Horrors of Camping
by The biggest ikarishipping Fan
Summary: One summer four girls become counselors at Kanto's cursed Camp Scarlet. Now the girls have to decide what is scarier: the rumored monster, the haunted campground, or the possibility of falling in love. Ikarishipping, Contestshipping, Pokéshipping, & Shootsdownshipping with slight Handymanshipping & possible others.
1. Just Bad Luck

**Horrors of Camping**

_.x._

_CHAPTER ONE_  
_Just Bad Luck_

_.x._

"Sleeping bags?"

"Check!"

"Tents?"

"Check!"

"Sunglasses?"

"Check!"

"Swim suits?"

"Check!"

"Bug spray?"

"Check!"

"Sunscreen?"

"Check!"

"Clothes?"

"Check!"

"Shampoo? Conditioner? Body wash?"

"Check, check, and check!"

"First Aid Kit?"

"Check!"

"Your six pokémon?"

"Check!" Seven voices echoed.

"Hmmm…" A pair of sea green eyes scanned over a sheet of paper. "I believe that's everything!" Taking out another list, and flipping perfect hair which shone like gold in the sunlight, Daisy called out the first name on the list.

"Dawn Berlitz?"

"Here!" A cheerful blunette called, grinning broadly as she swung a large pink tote bag over her shoulder, her tote bag matching the embellished coral pink tank top she currently wore with some faded and fringe-edged denim shorts and flip-flops. The sunglasses perched on top of her head almost fell off as the weight of the tote bag hit her, but she caught them just in time.

"May Maple?"

"Here!" A brunette with bright sapphire eyes responded cheerfully, looking sweet and innocent in the bright red sundress she was wearing, her hands folded behind her back.

"Zoey Nozomi?"

"Here!" A red-haired tomboy called back calmly, leaning against Tracey's old faded red Expedition, dressed in simple white capris and a crimson red tank top, her sunglasses perched like usual on top of her head.

"Mist—"

"Here!" A carrot top interrupted impatiently. "Violet and Lily are here too. We're all here, Daisy, so let's get going already!"

"It's not nice to interrupt, little sister," Daisy responded calmly back. "And I have to double check! Now I would appreciate it if you don't interrupt me next time, that way we can get to the camp faster."

Misty sighed impatiently.

"Misty Waterflower?"

"Heeeeere," she called lazily back, folding her arms in front strapless pale yellow top she wore with distressed capris.

"Lily?"

"Like, here!" Misty's pink-haired sister chirped, dressed in an orange sundress.

"Violet?"

"Right here, sissy!" Violet giggled, wearing a green dress identical to Lily's.

"And Tracy's here, and so am I, of course," Daisy said. "So that's everybody and everything, which means it's time to go _camping_!"

Everybody cheered at this announcement, excitement filling the air like static.

"And everything is already packed in the car, so all that's left to do is to get in! _It__'__s camping time!__"_she called, stuffing her own huge bags in the back of the Expedition

Quickly all the other girls began to rush towards the car, determined to fight for the best possible seat on their long drive northeast.

* * *

That was about three hours ago.

Dawn sighed, fighting back another yawn as she returned her gaze to the window which displayed the boring scenery of rocks and more rocks. It was so _boring!_ The land was all gray, matching the color of the large rocks, and as far as she could see, the landscape only continued like that for what would probably be another hour unless there just-so-happened to be some trees or a lake behind those mountains which looked just as boring as the rest of the landscape. The landscape wasn't even worth taking pictures of.

We're going camping, Dawn thought. So where are the pine trees? The green mountains? The lakes and rivers? The streams? Where's the _green?_ All I see is gray.

Tearing her gaze away from the window, she quickly glanced at everyone else in the car.

The Expedition had eight seats; eight seats were taken up.

Tracy and Daisy, who had been married to each other for a little more than a month now, sat in the front with Tracy in the driver's seat. Tracy was busy concentrating on the road, his eyes once in a while flickering to a map he had laid out on the dash board in front of him, or Daisy, who was busy chatting to him about some shoes she bought a week ago.

Meanwhile, Misty and her other two sisters were seated in the middle row. Lily had her pink earphones on with her bright green iPod nano playing on full blast. Meanwhile, Violet was texting rapidly to someone and playing games on her cellphone, and Misty, stuck in the middle, had her head in her lap, looking as if she could be asleep. The carrot-top had fought for the backseat but had been forced to sit in the middle after losing to a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors with May.

In the very back of the car sat her, May, and Zoey. May sat on the left side of the car and was doodling randomly on the back of a notebook she had in her lap, and whenever she wasn't doodling, she was staring out the window, biting her lower lip anxiously. Zoey, like Misty, was seated in the middle, and had her arms folded behind her head as she stared out either Dawn's window, May's window, or the window in front of her. Meanwhile, Dawn also spent most of her time staring out the window and waiting for the color green to pop up out of nowhere or playing with the apps on her pokétch.

How far away is the camp we're going to anyway? Dawn wondered to herself. It was supposed to be on the far side of Kanto, towards the east coast, so she guessed it was pretty far away considering their drive started in Cerulean City which was closer to the west side of Kanto.

What time did we leave anyway? Didn't we leave around ten o'clock? Quickly, she glanced at her pokétch. It was almost one o'clock. And still no sign of greenery. Or a restaurant. Now that Dawn thought about it, she was kind of hungry.

As if reading her mind, Misty, waking from her nap and stretching her arms high above her head while yawning loudly, called to her sister, "Hey, Daisy, when are we stopping for some lunch? I'm starving!"

"You're not starving," Daisy responded back. "We like, fed you this morning."

Misty glared at her sister. "Hey! Don't talk to me as if I'm a pet you have to feed and take care of!"

Daisy laughed. "But, little sis, you _are_ like a pet!"

Misty narrowed her eyes at her blonde sister, but chose to ignore her last comment. "So when are we stopping to eat, Daisy?"

"Like, how am I supposed to know?" she responded. "When we enter the next town, I guess. Or the next time we see a restaurant."

"A strawberry milkshake sounds really good right now," Dawn commented. "And a yogurt parfait… Mmm!"

"I'm craving noodles," May spoke up.

Misty snorted. "As soon as we find a place to chow down on, I'll burst into that place and demand a big fat double cheeseburger with extra bacon and a side of some greasy fries!" The red-head declared.

"I'm with Misty," Zoey agreed, laughing.

The car filled with was filled with chatter for about twenty minutes as the girls discussed food, camp, and somehow even wandered across the topic of how big some boys' butts were. But it wasn't long though before silence filled the car once more.

Finally, unable to take the silence, Dawn took out her pink iPod and was about to put on a song (Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot – their discussion on boys and butts had inspired her to listen to it) when she glanced out the window.

"I see green!" May declared excitedly, as she spotted the first sign of green since what felt like a lifetime. "I see a forest! And a mountain!"

"Wilderness, here we come!" Dawn pumped her fist into the air.

Excitement and chatter began to fill the car once again.

"I wouldn't get too excited if I was you. We still have a three hour drive," Daisy informed them. Everybody's face deflated and the chatter ceased.

"Ugh," Misty groaned, her head dropping to her lap.

"I hope there's a gas station somewhere nearby," Tracy mused. "The car is getting low on gas again…"

"Hopefully there's also a restaurant nearby," Misty sighed. "My stomach is beginning to feel as if it's going to eat _me_ if I don't feed it soon!" Just then a growl ripped through the car.

"You're beginning to sound like Ash," Dawn teased.

Just then the car darkened as they rode down a road that cut straight through a mountain. Gray, rocky walls speckled with grass rose up on both sides of the car, shielding them from the sunshine and instantly cooling the car. The air conditioner was turned off soon after.

"So, where is this camp we're going to?" Dawn questioned, turning to Misty. "And um, what's the camp's name again? Camp Maroon? Burgundy?"

"Close. It's called Camp Scarlet," Misty told them. "It's supposed to be located behind one of these mountains, so its location is kind of hidden, which is why the towns around it, and the camp itself, aren't really well-known."

"I knew it was a red color!" Dawn proclaimed under her breath.

"Camp Scarlet," Zoey mused. "That's a pretty name. I think I may have heard of Camp Scarlet once."

"It is a beautiful name," Misty agreed. "And the camp itself is very beautiful. It has mountains, a forest, a lake, AND a beach since it's near the ocean. It's also supposed to have spectacular sights. Like I heard it got its name because every ten nights the moon glows red there."

"Sounds kind of freaky," May commented quietly. "Why does it glow red every ten nights?"

Misty shrugged. "Nobody knows why. I mean, there's probably some reasonable explanation behind it. Anyway," she said, continuing on, "There's also this rumored waterfall hidden someplace in the mountains that glows red in the moonlight."

"Glowing red moons? Glowing red waterfalls? This sounds like a place a werewolf would be hanging out at," Dawn commented.

"It's not a place for werewolves, but it is a place for a _monster!_" A voice said eerily.

All eyes turned towards Daisy who grinned creepily back at them, her sunglasses pushed back to the top of her head so her eyes glowed in the eerie light. Dawn frowned, an uncomfortable feeling settling over her.

"What do you mean a monster?" Dawn questioned.

"A monster?" Zoey also queried.

"Yeah. Like, haven't you heard of it?" Daisy asked. Not even waiting for a response, she continued, "Screams heard in the middle of the night, missing counselors, bones found in the woods! Every year, or so the story goes, a counselor goes missing from Camp Scarlet, usually a girl, a very pretty girl I may add, and usually the only thing found left of them are their bones. Their deaths are a mystery, but I've come up with a very logical explanation for their deaths and disappearances: a monster got them!"

"That doesn't mean a monster got them, Daisy, just because bones from missing counselors have been found," Misty snorted, crossing her arms. "Besides, like you said, their deaths are a mystery!"

"Like true, it is a mystery little sis, but—" Just then her voice dropped, and her eyes began to gleam mischievously. "—whenever a counselor goes missing, these footprints appear the next day. Large footprints. Footprints that can't belong to any normal-sized pokémon that is in the woods."

By then Lily had taken off her earphones and Violet had stopped texting; they were also listening in on the conversation, worried frowns beginning to paint their features.

"Isn't the camp also supposed to be, like, _haunted?_" Lily questioned. "I heard the campground Camp Scarlet is on is the same place these pioneers died on a few hundred years ago."

Violet nodded, her blue eyes widening. "Yeah! Like I heard that one time this girl and this boy were canoeing in the lake, and suddenly their canoe flipped over, even though there wasn't a single wave or breeze!"

"I heard that story, too," Daisy said, smiling. "Just like I heard ten days later the same girl from the canoe went missing and she was never found. Not even her body."

"Creepy!" Lily declared.

"Wait," May interrupted, turning to Misty. "I thought you said the camp wasn't well-known?"

"Oh, it _is_ well-known," Daisy laughed. "It's well-known for its horror stories! Camp Scarlet may not be the most _known_ camp out there, or the most _popular _camp, but it is a popular setting for stories, most of them, if not all, creepy."

"Hmm… No wonder why Mom didn't want Max to go to camp alone," May murmured, glancing out the window worriedly.

"Wait – so you're taking us to a _haunted_ camp?" Dawn asked, beginning to feel even more uneasy. Mixed in with her uneasiness though she felt a small sense of excitement.

"Oh, relax," Daisy said, rolling her eyes, a playful grin on her face. "These are just some of the things we heard about the camp. Like, there's no guarantee these things _really _happened. As far as we know, they're just stories."

"I guess," Dawn responded, frowning.

"So what other stories have you heard about this place?" Zoey queried.

"Well," Daisy said, grinning. "Since you asked, there's also this story about this one boy counselor who—"

Just then there was a _screeeeee!_ and the entire car started to spin out of control. Screams filled the car until Tracey finally managed to hit the brake. More screams filled the car as there was a final _THUMP!_, and the car came to a jerking stop just as the Expedition crashed into a large oak.

"Shit!" May heard Tracey curse from the front. "Is everybody okay?" he called after checking on Daisy who had hit her head on the dashboard and had her head between her knees. "Is anybody hurt?"

"N-no need to worry!" Dawn called back first, her blue eyes wide as she said her usual catchphrase. Her head throbbed where her head had briefly hit the window, but other than that, she was fine.

"I-I'm fine!" May squeaked back, still shocked after the small crash. "M-Misty?"

"I'm good," The carrot-top responded, laughing nervously. "How about you, Zoey?"

"I'm fine," she responded, her fire red eyes wide. "Just shocked."

"U-um, how about you, Lily? Violet?" Misty asked next.

"We're good," they responded simultaneously. "Daisy, are you like, okay?" Lily asked worriedly, having seen Daisy's head hit the dashboard.

"F-fine," Daisy responded, sniffing loudly, her voice muffled by her hands. "J-just have a, ow, headache…" Finally, Daisy held her head up, breathing unevenly. "Are you okay, Trace? What happened?"

"Yeah, like what happened Tracy?" Violet demanded, her voice high-pitched from shock. Clearing her throat, she continued, "Like, everything was going perfectly fine, and then next thing I know, we're spinning out of control!"

"Yeah!" Lily agreed. "Did we get a flat tire or something?"

"I don't know," Tracy responded, frowning. "I'm going to go check right now. Everybody stay in the car."

"Well, this is just perfect!" Misty said sarcastically, clearly upset. "Our first camping trip together and the car gets lodged into a tree!"

"That's going to leave a big dent," May commented quietly, sweat dropping, as she saw the tree the car smacked into. "I certainly hope Tracey has insurance for this thing…"

"I'm sure he does," Daisy responded, turning towards them. Dawn flinched as she saw the red bruise beginning to form on Daisy's forehead. "After all, he's Tracey, and he's like, prepared for _everything!_ It's one of the reasons why I love him." She giggled.

Misty cringed while May and Dawn also giggled.

"Save the gushy things for later," Misty sighed, slumping back down into her seat and laying her head between her knees. "Ugh, I have such a terrible headache right now…"

"Hey, how do you think I feel?" Daisy asked. "I got my head slammed into the headboard." This information only seemed to worsen Misty's headache.

"Relax, Misty," Lily said, rubbing her little sister's back. "We'll be back on the road in no time!" Just then Tracey returned.

"Like, what was it, Trace?" Daisy asked immediately. "Did we get a flat tire?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Tracey sighed. "We have a spare tire, thankfully, but it's going to take a while to put on. Fortunately, the front of the car was spared minimum damage. You guys don't mind waiting about half an hour do you?"

"Of course not," Daisy chirped, ignoring her younger sister's disagreeing groan.

"I wonder what gave us a flat tire," Zoey queried suddenly. "The tires were perfectly fine when we left, weren't they?"

Daisy nodded. "Mhm. It was like, probably just the road. Probably ran into a nail or something sharp. Or the tires may have just gotten worn after so much driving. Just bad luck. That's all."

"Hopefully camp won't be like this drive," Dawn sighed. "Boring and full of bad luck."

"It shouldn't be," Misty said, lifting her head back up. "It has a lake, a beach, a forest, mountains, not to mention various activities," as she said this, her eyes brightened. "A beach and a forest…surrounded by the mountains and fresh air…it's gonna be perfect! Perfect!" Misty whispered, over and over again to herself, as if to convince herself it would be.

Dawn felt sympathy for the younger sister. She was still clearly upset about the small accident, and although the carrot top didn't say it, Dawn knew she was worried about Daisy.

"Sounds like the perfect summer camp. Mountains, forests, a lake and a beach," May whispered.

"And boys," Daisy added, smirking.

"Oh yeah, and boy counselors," Misty added. "Not to mention plenty of snotty kids who won't want to listen to a single word we say," she sighed.

"Hey, my brother is one of those 'snotty kids'," May giggled.

"They're supposed to be five to thirteen, aren't they?" Zoey asked. "Perhaps they won't be so bad."

"Maybe," Misty grumbled.

"Hey, Dawn, isn't Kenny going to be one of the male counselors at this camp?" Zoey asked suddenly, turning to the blunette.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. He mentioned it to us at the last contest we were all at together." She smiled, excitement suddenly bubbling up inside of her. "That was like forever ago though! I wonder how he is now. Aren't you glad we know one of the boy counselors, Zo?"

Zoey nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

Misty rolled her eyes, smirking slightly. "Hey, maybe you guys can get him to introduce us to the rest of the guy counselors."

"Or you can get Ash to, like, introduce you," Daisy chipped in. "He's going to be a counselor at Camp Scarlet too!"

Misty's eyes widened slightly, and then went back to normal as she folded her arms across her chest. "And how exactly do you know this, Daisy?"

"I know this since I'm like, the Camp Director, _duh!_" the blonde responded, giggling. The red mark on her head was beginning to show hints of blues and purples. "I have a list of everybody attending the camp, not to mention the names of all the activity directors and other staff members. Like I bet there's a whole lot of people you guys are going to know here, after all, most of them are friends and acquaintances of Ash that he like, gathered up."

"So Ash is really going to be a counselor?" May questioned, giggling as she saw a small smile spread across Misty's face.

"Yup!" Daisy chirped. "And there are three other guy counselors too! Um, I think their names are Paco and… like, something that starts with a D, or something. Hold on, let me check." Humming to herself, Daisy began to sort through a small tote bag of hers for a list.

"Paco?" Dawn giggled. "I'm not going to forget that name."

"Oh, Paco? Did I say Paco?" Daisy laughed, her list now in her hands. "Oh, um, I like meant Paul. The other counselors are Kenny Solomon, Paul Strongman and Drew Rosalind."

"Paul Strongman?"/"Drew Rosalind?" May and Dawn both asked simultaneously, blinking.

Is Paul Strongman the same Paul who was Ash's rival in Sinnoh? Dawn wondered, frowning. Daisy _had_ said the counselors were acquaintances and friends he had gathered up. But Paul was Ash's rival… wasn't he?

"Drew Rosalind," May repeated his name, also frowning. "Huh. So Drew's a counselor? I never saw that coming."

"I don't think anybody did, assuming this Drew Rosalind is that green-haired dude who gives you roses whose name also happens to be Drew," Misty responded. "So, Daisy, do you have what activities we'll be in charge of planned out yet?"

"Of course I do! You will be in charge of swimming and canoeing since I know you love water so much, and so will Ash since I know you have a crush on him—"

"Shut up, I do not like him like that," The redhead grumbled, red staining her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Whatever you say, sis," Daisy responded, smirking. "And May will be in charge of Arts and Crafts along with Drew, since they are both from Hoenn and are coordinators." May frowned at this. "Zoey and Kenny will be put in charge of bird watching and pokémon tracking, and Dawn and Paul will be put in charge of the hiking activities!"

"What about us?" Violet questioned, referring to her and Lily.

"Ah, right! You two will be in charge of the training activity, which is basically just you two supervising the kids ten and older as they train their pokémon or battle and making sure the ones younger than ten don't kill each other," Daisy responded. "There are only ten counselors, so there are only five main activities."

Just then Tracey reappeared. "Okay, got the tire on!" Tracey chimed, putting on his seatbelt. "Time to hit the road again!"

"Great!" Daisy said cheerfully. "Then let's get moving!"

Minutes rolled by in silence, and as they drove deeper into the mountains, Dawn started to notice the gray clouds in the distance. They were eerie, clouds that threatened rain. Looking at them, Dawn couldn't help but recall what Lily had said about the camp.

_A haunted camp…_

"Is Camp Scarlet really haunted?" Dawn asked Misty, her voice soft and questioning, as she leaned forward in her seat. Misty glanced back over her shoulder at the blunette and then twisted in her seat so she could face the blunette better.

"I highly doubt it. Daisy likes to exaggerate on things," Misty said. "Like the story about the monster. She just made up the thing about the footprints to scare us I bet. I mean, I've heard no such things about footprints showing up after a counselor disappears, and I've heard just as many stories as Daisy has."

"But did pioneers really die on the land that camp is on?" Dawn asked again.

"Well…" Misty scrunched her eyebrows together. "Yeah. I suppose they did. It was in the eighteen hundreds though. You know, before everything got so _advanced._"

"How did they die?"

"Well, if you asked Daisy, she would say the 'monster' got them, but it was actually from the winter. From what I heard, the pioneers had lived on that land for only a few months and had just finished building these small cabins when there was a bad winter storm. It snowed for _weeks. _The pioneers were trapped in their cabins – you know, snowed in. Those who didn't die from hypothermia died from starvation."

"Freaky," May murmured quietly.

"I think that's actually kind of cool," Zoey responded. "I've always wanted to go someplace haunted. You know, maybe see a ghost."

"It is pretty cool," Misty agreed. "Like there's even a graveyard for the pioneers somewhere deep in the forest! Not that I've seen it, but I've heard about it."

"Wait a minute, have you been to this camp before?" May questioned.

"Only once," she said. "I went with my sister when she was checking out the camp and deciding whether or not she wanted to be the camp director."

"Why _does_ your sister want to be the camp director?" Zoey asked. "Not to seem rude or anything, but I just never saw your sister as the outdoorsy kind. She always struck me as some shopaholic that just so happened to have a leader role at the Cerulean Gym."

"She wanted to try something new," Misty explained. "She saw a flyer about it needing a new director, remembered some stories she heard about it being haunted and stuff, and yeah. I guess she wanted to see if it was true, and then when she got there and saw the ocean and lake, she was hooked. Tracy kind of had to talk her into it too though."

"That's pretty cool of your sister," May said. "So what does the camp look like? Are there any shower stalls or anything?"

"It's very pretty. It has pretty evergreen trees that surround the camp, but then there's a lake about a few hundred feet away from the cabins. It is like the deepest blue you'll ever see! _Seriously._ The cabins there are made of maple wood and are very old. Like very, very old. The shower stalls aren't nearly as old though and are right outside the counselors' cabins which would be pretty cool if it wasn't for the fact that the boys could probably spy on us while we're showering if they wanted to. Oh! And then the beach… Oh my gosh, it is like behind the mountains, and it's only a few hours walk away if you take this one trail that cuts right through them. The sand there is so white; when I first saw it I thought it was snow! And then the ocean is absolutely beautiful! It is just so amazing, especially at night time, it is just simply indescribable but I'll try to describe it anyway…"

Dawn listened to Misty's cheerful description of the beach with half an ear, daydreams starting to cloud her mind as she imagined her following weeks at Camp Scarlet.

Two months out in the wilderness, working on my tan, and going on long hikes with small kids and some guy named Paul Strongman, whoever he is.

Paul Strongman… She thought, repeating his name in her mind. She liked the way the name sounded on her tongue. Paul Strongman… Strongman…

Suddenly an image of a lavender-haired man with piercing onyx-colored eyes entered her thoughts.

"Hey! Hello! Earth to Dawn! Are you there?"

Dawn blinked, and she blushed as she saw all her friends were staring at her with questioning looks on their faces.

"Um…hi?"

"Daisy asked what you wanted to eat," Zoey told her.

"Huh?"

"We're stopping for lunch. What do you want to eat?" Zoey repeated.

Dawn frowned but then felt another blush crawl onto her cheeks as she realized the car was parked by a small café and a gas station with one pump.

"Oh. Um, anything is fine," she told Daisy.

"Gotcha," the blonde said as she exited the car. "I'll give you a parfait then if they have any, and maybe a salad. What do you want to drink? Is Sprite fine with you?"

"Yeah, it is," Dawn said. "Like I said, anything is fine with me."

The car door slammed as Daisy, along with Misty's other two sensational sisters, got out to buy lunch. A minute later Tracy got out to fill up the Expedition with much needed fuel.

"Geez, what's with you," Misty asked. "Daydreaming about hunky twelve-year old boys already, Dawn?"

Dawn blushed furiously at this comment. "O-of course not!" she stuttered. "I was just…just…" Dawn shot a glare at the carrot top as the beginning of a smirk curved the youngest sensational sister's pale mouth. "I wasn't think about twelve year old boys!"

"Whatever you say," Misty laughed.

Dawn just turned away from her, sniffing indignantly, and turned her gaze to the sodden gray clouds outside the car and the dark green pine trees that were swaying in the wind. For the second time she noticed how eerie it looked outside with the dark clouds hiding the sun and casting a large shadow over the land. And for the first time, she noticed the goosebumps starting to cover her arms and legs.

"Whew, it's chilly in here…" May's soft voice commented, echoing Dawn's exact thoughts.

"That's because we're getting close to the beach," Misty told her. "It's usually pretty chilly next to the ocean because the wind blows in the cold from the water."

"Is it going to be like this all summer?"

"I don't think it will be," Misty replied. "Don't worry, it'll get warm. Maybe not blazing hot like we want, but it'll be decent."

"Oh, okay."

"How much longer do you think it will be until we reach camp?"

"Not too long," Misty said. "Maybe about two more hours. The camp is right over this mountain and then we just go through this small cave, a forest, and then we're there."

"Finally," Dawn sighed, stretching her long limbs out in front of her. "My back is killing me!"

* * *

Dawn's eyes widened in awe when she first saw the camp. It was amazing! Immediately she felt a tingle of excitement as she imagined the days she would be spending there. Even if it was chilly out, she refused to dismiss the idea of getting a tan.

The camp was like a scene you only saw in a painting, a cleverly painted picture that although beautiful, could only be a figment of someone's imagination. The camp was full of evergreen trees that shimmered in the sunlight, and in the distance Dawn could make out the glittering surface of a lake that was the most stunning shade of blue she had ever seen.

About twenty ancient-looking cabins lined the camp, but like everything else, the cabins went very well with the rest of the scenery. Most of the campsite had been cleared of any trees, but behind the cabins there were evergreen trees as far as the eye could see, surrounding two-thirds of the camp. Behind the forest Dawn could see more mountains which towered over the forest and camp, being both rocky and gray and also green with forests. The lake was a good forty to fifty yards away from the camp, stretching far both east and west, surrounding the part of the camp that wasn't surrounded by trees. The lake was a beautiful blue, the most brilliant shade of blue Dawn had ever laid eyes on. The lake's coast was fair, the sand being almost as white as snow, giving the lake an even more stunning appearance.

"Wow! This place is beautiful!" May exclaimed, her blue eyes widening in awe. "You weren't exaggerating Misty when you told us how beautiful this place was! In fact, I think you were _under_-exaggerating.

Misty just grinned. Zoey glanced around and nodded her approval. Dawn dug through her pink tote bag and pulled out a digital camera. She snapped a few pictures, trying to memorize every detail of this beautiful place or at least document it.

"Okay, so, if you would follow me, I'll show you to your cabin," Daisy told them.

"Will we all be sharing the same cabin?" Zoey questioned.

"Well, not all of you," Daisy responded. "You, Misty, May and Dawn will be sharing the same cabin; Lily and Violet will be sleeping in the one next door though."

"That's fine with us," Dawn said.

"Yeah, like totally," Violet agreed. Lily nodded. "Yeah, more space for us!"

Daisy led the six girls over to their cabins. Lily and Violet were given the smaller cabin since there were only two of them, while Dawn and everyone else were put into the cabin next to theirs which was closer to the shower stalls; pass the shower stalls was the cabin the boy counselors would be staying in when they finally arrived.

"I call the bottom bed!" Dawn called immediately.

"Ditto!" May chirped.

Zoey just shrugged. "I'm fine with the bunk."

"Me too," Misty said. "So who's getting what bed and which bunk?"

"Ummm, I'll sleep on the bed on the right," Dawn offered. "And then Zoey can have the bed above me, and we can share the right side of the room. Then you and Misty can share the left side of the room. How does that sound?"

All four girls exchanged glances.

"Fine by me!" May chirped. "Your bed is closer to the door, so if any monster comes in through that way, you'll be the first to know!"

"And I'll also be the first to escape if the monster comes in through the window," Dawn told her, grinning, pointing a finger towards the small framed window next to May's bed. May looked at the glass window warily, as if expecting some hairy monster or mutated creature to climb through it and abduct her.

"May, don't worry, I'm sure there's really no monster here," Zoey told her, rolling her eyes. "You know how camp is. Scary ghost stories over a campfire; some kid probably just mixed some fiction in with the story about the pioneers and now everybody's thinking there might really be a monster."

"Yeah," May said, still sounding doubtful. She shook her head, sighing. "You're probably right."

Daisy smiled as she listened to their conversation. "Well, if you need anything just let me know." Daisy was about to turn away, to leave them to unpack, when Dawn stopped her suddenly.

"Wait, um, I wanted to ask you something," Dawn started, a sheepish blush beginning to form on her cheeks.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well…it's just May, Misty, and Zoey all know who their, um, what do you call it? Well, who they're be directing activities with—"

"Their buddy," Daisy informed her. "Here at Camp Scarlet they call it a 'buddy'. Or you can just call it your partner. It sounds less kiddish, right? Anyway, go on."

"Okay… well, May, Misty and Zoey all know who their 'buddy' is, or partner, and I don't know who mine is, so I was kind of wondering…"

"Yours is like, that Paco Strongman dude," Daisy replied, misunderstanding what she meant.

"_Paul_ Strongman," Dawn corrected. "And I actually meant, like, I know his name but I don't know _who_ he is. Like, do you have maybe a picture of him? Or a biography or document or something on him that I could look at?"

"Of course!" Daisy chirped as she dug through her bright green tote bag and pulled out a file. "Just don't lose any of the papers in this or else! You can bring it back to me in the morning." Daisy got ready to leave again, but then paused, and added, "For anybody who's wondering, the boys won't be arriving until tomorrow. They were supposed to be here today like us, but they called and explained they wouldn't be here until tomorrow due to some like, circumstance I guess."

Daisy left for real that time, and Dawn stared at the file in her hands.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" May asked, stuffing lace bras and panties of every color in her drawer as she unpacked. Zoey quirked an eyebrow at the lingerie, secretly wondering if she wore those every day or if the sixteen year old had plans.

Dawn plopped down on her bed, cross-legged, as she leaned against the wall. She looked at the folder with the name of her future 'buddy' on it, thoughts and queries racing through her mind.

Would he be cute? Strong? Was he a trainer or a coordinator like her? Would they have a lot in common?

These thoughts still running through her mind, she opened the folder. The first paper just had his basic information on him.

First Name: Paul  
Last Name: Strongman  
Occupation: Trainer  
Height: 6'1'' (nine inches taller than her…oh boy).  
Weight: 193 lb.  
Age: 17  
Birthday: June 8th, 1995 (oooh, so he was about a year older than her)

Dawn blinked, thinking back to what today's date was.

Hey, his birthday is tomorrow! She realized, smiling to herself. I'm going to have to remind myself to tell him happy birthday!

"Oooh, Paul Strongman must be cute," Misty teased playfully. "Look, she's smiling!"

"I haven't even seen his picture yet," Dawn told her. "I was just reading his basic information, and, well…just never mind." She turned to the next paper in the file where it gave a brief biography of his life.

_Paul Strongman is an aspiring trainer aiming to someday be one of the strongest trainers in Sinnoh. He grew up in Veilstone City with his older brother. He has competed in 7 Pokémon Leagues, including the Sinnoh League twice, and won the Sinnoh League on his second try at the young age of 15. He has also completed the Kanto Frontier, but he refused the offer of being the new Head of the Battle Frontier. Paul has also… … …_

Dawn was no longer reading the biography though. While reading the biography, her eyes had wandered to the profile picture featured of Paul Strongman that was neatly printed to take up the last third of the page. She stared at the picture with a blank face, too shock to show any expressions. Her friends stared at her, waiting for her to say or react or anything.

"Uh oh…" May murmured worriedly. "He must not be cute. Poor Dawn, she's going to be stuck with some creep who'll be hitting on her all summer!"

Dawn looked up at this exclamation and blinked, shock finally becoming evident on her face as her eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly. She turned back to the picture on her lap, back to the picture of shoulder-length plum-colored hair, intense black eyes, and tanned skin. She turned back to the picture of Paul. _Paul Strongman_.

The same Paul she had met her first day as a trainer, the same Paul who had mistreated his pokémon, the same Paul Ash had battled countless times and had lost to countless times too until he finally defeated _Paul Strongman_ at the Sinnoh League.

Paul Strongman. Strong, indifferent, cold.

Or so he was seven years ago, the last time she had seen him.

Zoey frowned. She walked over to the blunette and sat down next to her on the bed, peering over her shoulders to see the picture of Paul Strongman. She finally understood the surprised look on Dawn's face.

"Oh."

"Oh what?" May asked. "Is he cute or what? Is he hot?"

Misty sweat dropped, narrowing her eyes at May. "Geez, calm down May. What does it matter if he's cute or hot or if he isn't? It's not like Dawn's going to date him."

"Well, maybe, but that doesn't mean _I _might not want to date him," May responded.

"But what about Drew?" Misty asked.

"What about him?"

"I thought you liked him."

"Nooo. I don't like him," May denied, a pink blush quickly making its way on her cheeks. "Well, not anymore, at least…" Misty patted May's shoulder sympathetically. "Well, Dawn? Zoey? How is he?"

"It's…Paul." Dawn whispered.

"Mhm. Paul Strongman," Misty agreed, winking. "Can you be a little more specific?"

"No, I mean, it's…Paul. He was this, this rival of Ash's in Sinnoh. We use to run into him all the time. The last time I saw him was at the Sinnoh League when he battled Ash and lost. I don't think I've seen him ever since." Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Paul, huh?" Misty said thoughtfully. "I think I may remember Ash mentioning him. Actually…I think he mentioned him just a few weeks ago. He came to visit me a few weeks ago at the gym and he mentioned some summer plans he and his friends had. He wouldn't tell me what his plans were though." Misty clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Well, now I know. Anyway, I remember he mentioned something about this intense battle him and one of his friends, who is also a rival of his, had and I think he may have said the guy's name was Paul."

"Weird," Zoey said. "That guy was a jerk." A smile suddenly crept on the red-head's face. "But who knows, maybe he changed." Dawn just shrugged doubtfully, frowning.

"Hey! I just realized we all know who our counseling buddy will be!" May exclaimed, grinning. "Like Misty knows Ash – well, technically we all know Ash – I know Drew, Zoey knows Kenny – and so does Dawn – and then you two also know Paul! Talk about a small world, huh?"

"Yeah, a really small world," Dawn agreed, still staring at that picture in her lap.

Zoey also nodded, watching Dawn through narrowed eyes. "Hey, aren't you going to unpack?" she asked after a while. Reluctantly, Dawn tore her eyes away from the picture of Paul. Sighing, she closed the file.

* * *

"Yeah. I'll go unpack right now."

Late into the night, after everybody was done unpacking and had eaten dinner, everybody lied in bed but not everybody was asleep.

Dawn tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. The bed sheets felt too hot to be under, but whenever she tossed them off, she felt as if she was sleeping in snow. It was a battle between hot and cold and which one she preferred. Sighing, Dawn stuck her leg out from the covers along with her left arm.

"Zoey?" she asked softly, wondering if the redhead was having trouble sleeping like she was.

"Yeah?"

Dawn smiled. "So you're having trouble sleeping, too?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. See, my crazy bunkmate can't fall asleep apparently and she keeps kicking my bed and as a result that's keeping _me_ awake…" she explained.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay," Zoey reassured. "So, what's keeping you awake?"

"The temperature," Dawn responded. "I'm like boiling and freezing at the same time."

"Really? Maybe there's a draft down there or something. I'm perfectly fine up here. It's like the perfect degree, warm but not blazing hot."

"Lucky," Dawn whispered. It was quiet for a moment. "Zoey?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you… looking forward to tomorrow?" the blunette questioned.

The red-head was so quiet, for a moment Dawn feared she may have fallen asleep. "I don't know. Kind of, but not really. I mean, it'll be great to see Kenny and Ash again, but I'm not overly excited, you know?"

"I guess…"

It went quiet again, and then…

"Do you think he changed?"

"If who changed?"

"Paul."

"Oh. Maybe. You never know. Why?"

"Oh, no reason…" Dawn murmured.

Silence.

"Well, actually it's just… I dunno… it's just I'm going to be going on hiking trips with him for two months, so I'm just wondering if he's like…different now or something," Dawn explained. "I mean, it's not like I ever really got to know him _personally_, you know, but…"

"You better hope so. You don't wanna be stuck doing everything with an ass," Zoey told her.

Dawn was silent for a moment. "He's not really an ass… I mean, yeah, he kind of was, but not that much. He was just harsh, especially towards his pokémon."

Zoey raised an eyebrow, but Dawn didn't see it (for obvious reasons). "He was just harsh?"

"I'm not defending him or anything," she added quickly. "It's just, I mean, _I__'__m trying to say…!__"_

"You're trying to say…?"

Dawn sighed. "I don't know what I'm trying to say. It's just, one of the last times I saw him, which was right before his and Ash's battle, he just seemed… I dunno. It's like hard to explain. Do you think he's misunderstood though?"

"Misunderstood?" Zoey laughed. "Wow, you had a lot of time to think about this, didn't you?"

Dawn shrugged, her face burning in the dark. "No… well, kind of. I just started thinking of it today. When I saw his picture. I was just thinking of the old days, back when I was still traveling with Ash and all of our old adventures, when I suddenly remembered this…_talk_ we had right before the league."

"You two talked? That's surprising."

"Hey! What does that mean?" Dawn asked, her voice growing in volume. Misty mumbled something, half-asleep, in the next bed about loudmouths and flopped down on her stomach and buried her face in a pillow, still grumbling under her breath.

"Shhh, keep it down. May and Misty are actually _asleep_." Zoey hissed.

"Whoops. My bad," Dawn whispered guiltily.

"And I just meant I didn't think you two talked that much. Like you haven't mentioned any conversation between you and Paul in the seven years I've known you, so excuse me for assuming."

"Sorry," Dawn huffed. She sighed, turning over in bed. "All I know is Paul better remember my name and who I am, or I'm going to raise some hell and finish what I started at Oreburgh Gym."

"And what did you start at Oreburgh Gym exactly?" Zoey queried.

"Something," Dawn answered mischievously, smiling to herself in the dark. "Sweet dreams, Zoey. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

* * *

**Whoo! Finally uploaded this! :p By darn time, I've had this chapter written for what, half a decade? Idk, when did I finish Pretender's Fairytale or start Diamond and Pearl? Meh, I don't even know when I first started working on this story. O-o **

**In other words, I've been writing this story for like, years now (I think I started about 4 years ago? Maybe longer) and ever since have been working on this in my free time/when I'm not busy/when I'm in the mood to write about monsters, ghosts, & shippyness. As of this moment, I've finished 10 chapters (50% of this story) and am working on Chapter 14! :D (which really isn't that impressive considering how long it took me to write those chapters… and how much this chapter still kind of sucks despite how many times I've reread this :p haha****…****)****.**

**So Paul, Drew, Ash and Kenny are all counselors at Camp Scarlet with the girls. Predictable and obvious. Which is why I figured it would be kind of useless to have Dawn wait until the boys show up to figure out who her ****"****buddy****"**** is. :p**

**In other news, lots of foreshadowing this beginning chapter! (Lots more foreshadowing than I probably first intended when I wrote this forever ago xD hahaha)**

**Anyway, feel free to leave a review! ;D Next chapter the boys will arrive along with potential shippyness!**

**Oh yeah, I also decided the events of this story happened last summer (June 7, 2013 - August 5, 2013). Just an FYI. In case anyone begins to wonder that for whatever reason.**

**Next Chapter: Doomed From the Start**


	2. Doomed From the Start

**Horrors of Camping**

_.x._

_CHAPTER TWO_  
_Doomed From the Start_

_.x._

Dawn was outside in her bathing suit, wearing a blue and white striped bikini top and matching blue boy shorts as she tanned out in front of the lake. She looked up as she felt a shadow pass over her, momentarily blocking the sun's rays. She slid her sunglasses off her nose as she squinted up at the dark figure in front of her. She smiled as she recognized who it was.

Her romancer.

"Come," she beckoned him to lie next to her, patting the towel that suddenly appeared beside her.

The tall figure did as told and occupied the towel next to her.

"You look beautiful today," he told her in a sultry voice that was deep and held a slight rasp to it that made goosebumps stand up on Dawn's arms.

She smiled in response, a warm blush coloring her cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered. Her eyes flickered to her romancer's face. "You should come closer," she told him. "I can't see your face. It's hidden in the shadows." In fact, half his body was hidden in shadows.

Again, he complied with her wish and moved closer as he cupped her cheek in one hand. Dawn moved forward, eager to see the face of the guy she would be directing activities with all summer.

Dawn felt her heart skip a beat the moment she saw her love's face. At the exact same moment though the real Dawn was shocked awake, her face flushed in embarrassment and her navy blue eyes were wide in shock.

"I cannot believe I just dreamed that," she exclaimed in a hushed whisper, her heart still pounding wildly against her chest like a caged animal.

In her mind she saw shaggy shoulder-length hair the color of plums, a tanned face, and piercing black eyes. What had made her dream such a _thing?_ To think she would dream of _Paul_, Ash's rival-Paul, the ambitious trainer-Paul, the chimchar abandoning-Paul, in such a way, was just _impossible_.

It wasn't just the thought that she would think of him in such a way which made it impossible, but just basically the whole concept of the dream. Paul was a trainer who only cared about training his pokémon so he could become more powerful; Dawn couldn't even imagine Paul as being the type of person who would ever get married, or even have a romantic interest in anyone…especially her.

But then again, the last time she had seen Paul she was ten. She was seventeen now, so she supposed he could have changed like Zoey suggested. Somehow, she still highly doubted that.

Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough whether or not he has changed at all, Dawn thought, sighing. Honestly, she was not exactly thrilled at seeing the plum-haired man again.

"Well, I might as well get ready!" she told herself, climbing out of bed.

**/x/x/x/**

"So when are the boys arriving?" Dawn questioned as she took a bite out of a muffin she was eating. "Are they all arriving at the same time? Are they in the same car or something?"

Daisy nodded. The blonde-haired beauty had a blue Band-Aid with prints of water pokémon on her head where it had hit the dashboard the previous day. The bandage was barely visible though with Daisy's bangs covering them.

"Yup, they all took the same car. That's what caused the delay yesterday; apparently Drew's flight from Hoenn was, like, late, so they had to wait for him. They said they're already half way here, so they should be here by like, twelve, assuming they don't run into any trouble," Daisy told the girls.

"Hmmm. So what should we do while we wait for the boys to arrive, girls?" Misty asked. "Swim? Work on our tan?"

"You four could like, go to the Arts and Crafts cabin," Daisy suggested. "You could make charm bracelets or something, just as long as you don't use up all the supplies."

They exchanged glances.

"You wanna do that instead?" Dawn asked.

"Well, um, I guess," May said. "A charm bracelet would be cute."

Zoey just shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."

Misty was thoughtful for a moment. "Sure. I mean, hey, we have all summer to go swimming and work on our tan!"

So, after being given directions by Daisy, together, the four best friends walked to the Arts and Crafts cabin.

"Whoa, that cabin is a sight!" Misty exclaimed.

It was true. Cabin A, which was the Arts and Crafts cabin, was a spectacular sight. Unlike all the other cabins, this cabin looked as if it had only recently been built, and was painted numerous colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. It was all the colors of the rainbow and the way it was painted, it looked similar to a wheel with six spokes that were each painted a different color.

Looking at it, Dawn briefly wondered how she hadn't noticed the cabin earlier.

"Ooh, colorful," May whispered, her eyes wide with awe. "I wonder what it looks like inside!" As she said that, she barged inside, her eyes widening even further.

Inside the decent-sized cabin each wall was painted a different color. The wall in front of her was painted a turquoise color and had a fake stantler head hanging above, and below that was a banner that said "WELCOME TO ARTS AND CRAFTS"; also on the wall were several smaller duplicates of famous and well-known artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Meanwhile, the wall to the left was a light plum color and was covered in various paintings, most likely past works campers have done. To the right of the turquoise wall, the wall was painted a bright green with numerous sketches and drawings tacked up. Looking behind her, May saw the wall was painted a bright pink and was covered in posters with quotes and slogans and pictures somehow related to the arts and crafts apparently. For some reason there was also a body-sized mirror next to the door.

Turning back to the room, and the blue, purple, and green walls, May glanced around and saw there were about five long tables in the middle of the room along with a large desk pushed against the turquoise wall where a white Noctowl stared back at her with large, unseeing eyes. Meanwhile, four large wooden cabinets – where May suspected the supplies were being kept – were pushed against the wall, side by side.

Dawn walked over to one of those cabinets and pulled open the doors. She peered inside before she closed it and opened the next one. She smiled as she opened this one and victoriously pulled out a cup full of beads and some string.

Dawn placed the cup of beads and string on the table in the middle before heading back to grab the other four cups of beads they could use to make their bracelets and whatever else they could make out of beads and string. On her third trip to the cabinet, she grabbed a case she had spotted filled to the brim with charms.

"Oooh, I call these beads," Misty said, pulling the cup full of beads filled with various shades of blues close to her. Wrapping a string around her wrist, the carrot top estimated the amount of string she would need before snipping it. The other three girls followed suit, murmuring amongst each other.

"Darn it! I think I cut my string too short!" May exclaimed, frowning unhappily, before cutting herself another piece. After determining that the string she had was long enough, May started to sift through the beads, on the lookout for all the beads she deemed "pretty" or "cute".

Meanwhile, Zoey and Dawn were busy looking through the case full of charms and picking out the ones they liked or felt fit them.

Suddenly Dawn gasped loudly. "A piplup charm!" she exclaimed, grinning. "How adorable!" Quickly, she grabbed the cute piplup trinket for herself, and she slid the charm on her bracelet to accompany the pink D-shaped charm and ribbon charm she had found.

"Shoot!"

Dawn looked up, startled, as May glared down at a pile of beads in front of her.

"Geez, May," Zoey muttered, sweat dropping. "Make enough noise, why don't ya?"

"Sorry," she apologized. "It's just these stupid beads! I can't get the stupid string to go through those stupid holes! It's like, impossible!"

"It's not impossible," Misty said as she rolled her eyes, a small smile painted on her face in amusement. "You're just doing it wrong. Here, I'll put the beads on for you, alright?"

"Well, okay," May sighed. "Man, I suck at this. I can't even put a stupid string through a hole!"

Zoey smiled sympathetically at the brunette. "Don't worry; you'll get better I'm sure."

May snorted. "I doubt it. It's not like I'm going to spend all summer here in the Arts and Crafts cabin! Like, no way!"

Dawn's eyebrows furrowed as the brunette said this. She tried to recall what activity Daisy said she had assigned May and Drew.

"Well, wherever you're spending your summer, and whatever you're doing, it's going to be with Drew," Misty commented, holding up May's bracelet which consisted of mainly colorful, sparkly beads and charms of a skitty, a ramen cup, and a four-leaf clover. "Do you want me to tie this around your wrist for you?"

"Sure," May responded. "And ugh, tell me about it!"

"I take it you're not looking forward to seeing Drew?" Dawn asked.

"Well…I kind of am," May admitted. "I mean, I haven't seen him in a few years, which is also why I'm kind of not looking forward to seeing him. I mean what if I see him again and he's a stuck up jerk?"

"I thought you said he already was a stuck up jerk?" Zoey said, frowning. "So he's not a stuck up jerk?"

May shook her head. "No, no, he's not. I said he's smug, not stuck up. And he's not that much of a jerk… I mean, he has his moments, but most of the time he's actually pretty nice."

"Okay, I'm confused now. If he's actually decently nice, then how come you just said 'ugh tell me about it' when I mentioned you would be spending all summer with him as if he was the biggest jerk in the world?" Misty questioned. She started to work on her own bracelet again as she finished up tying May's around her wrist.

"Well, knowing Drew, he'll just find some way to push my buttons," she said.

"I still can't believe Drew is going to be your partner here!" Dawn exclaimed, a cheerful grin suddenly spreading across her face. "Actually, no, I can't believe I'm going to get to see him in person and actually _meet_ him! You have NO idea how long I've wanted to see Drew in person, and then here I meet _you_ who is his RIVAL and potential love interest!"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" May exclaimed, her face red. "Who mentions anything about love? I am not a love interest, nonetheless _Drew__'__s_ love interest!"

Dawn rolled her eyes, grin still in place. "Relax, May, I was kidding. Although…you certainly are dressed up for the part of someone who could be a potential love interest."

"What do you mean?" May exclaimed, her red face deepening a few shades. She glanced down, tugging anxiously at the loose-fitting bright red knee-length dress she chose to wear that morning with sandals, a Hawaiian shell necklace, and a small white cardigan that she left unbuttoned. "It's just a dress!"

"Dressing to impress, May?" Misty teased.

"I'm sure Drew will like the dress very much," Zoey reassured her.

"You guys are jerks!" May whined, pouting. "I was wearing a dress yesterday too, and you didn't accuse me of dressing to impress then!"

"But you were," Dawn chirped. "We all thought the boys would be here yesterday!" The four girls minus May broke into laughter as they watched May's face go even redder.

"Why is everybody picking on me? Pick on Misty! I mean, we all know she likes Ash!"

"Everybody likes Ash," Misty responded calmly back.

May rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean! We all know Misty is like totally in love with Ash—"

"Shhhhh! May!" Misty hissed, now the one blushing furiously.

"Nobody's here yet, Misty," Dawn told her. "I'm sure we would have heard the boys pull up if they were."

"It's not that. It's Daisy," Misty said. "I don't want her knowing I like Ash because she'll just embarrass me over it."

"But I thought she knew already. Yesterday in the car…" Dawn trailed off.

"She doesn't know I like Ash. She _thinks_ I like Ash, but she doesn't know for sure," the red-head explained. "Basically she's just guessing and hoping someday I'll actually confirm her suspicions by accident when she's teasing me."

"Well, at least you're no longer in denial about your feelings," Zoey said, smiling. She had just finished her bracelet which was all red, orange, and yellow beads with the exception of a shiny glameow charm Dawn had found for her.

Misty blushed and muttered, "It's not that big of a deal…" Putting the finishing touches on her bracelet, Misty held the bracelet up the light, admiring the different shades of blues and the polished charms of the six water pokémon she had found.

"Your bracelet matches your outfit," Dawn giggled.

Misty looked down at her outfit and smiled. "Hey, it does match my outfit!" Currently the red-head was wearing all blue: a blue short-sleeved hoodie with a togepi on the front, blue capris, and blue sneakers with a design on them that looked similar to waves.

"Your bracelet matches your outfit, too, kind of," Dawn told Zoey, finally noticing her bracelet. Zoey's outfit was very similar to the one she wore when she was ten; she was wearing a tight brick red shirt with elbow-length sleeves, a fringed beige vest, and tight dark-rinsed skinny jeans with beige-colored snow boots.

Zoey just smiled, fingering the small beads quietly.

"I can't wait to see Kenny again!" Dawn exclaimed suddenly. "I wonder what he's been up to? I haven't seen him in a while." A thoughtful look crossed her face as she started to imagine all the adventures Kenny could have gone on since the last time she saw him. "I wonder if he misses me." She slipped a sun charm on her bracelet.

"I'm sure he does," Zoey said quietly, studying the different colors mixed on her beads. Gold, yellow, cream… dark orange, orange, light orange… maroon, burgundy, crimson, scarlet…

"Maybe," she said. "Say, have you seen him lately? Weren't you both in the Grand Festival? That was like a month ago."

Zoey nodded.

"So did you talk to him?"

"For a while," she admitted. "He said 'hey', I said hey back, and then we chatted for a few minutes."

"Oh, that's cool," the blunette chirped. She sifted through the cups of beads, picking out all the light pink ones. "What did you two talk about?"

"You," suddenly a smirk slid on Zoey's face. "He still likes you, you know."

"Kenny has a crush on Dawn?" May looked up, surprised. "Dawn, you never mentioned any of this to me!"

An embarrassed blush came over Dawn's face. "No, he doesn't. He's over me. I know he is."

"And how exactly do you know this?" Zoey asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Dawn's blush deepened, her whole face red now. She was feeling really uncomfortable talking about her friend's crush on her. "I just do. We… we talked about it for a while, last time I saw him."

"You talked about his crush on you?" The tomboy raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" She trailed, racking her brain for something, anything, to distract them with. "Hey, May, did you get a haircut?"

"Don't change the subject on us," Zoey said, her eyes narrowed. "What did you two talk about?"

Dawn sighed. "He, well, kind of told me he really liked me a while ago, like about a year ago, and I… I told him I wasn't ready for a relationship. He looked kind of sad about it, but he said he understood. Then next time I saw him he said he was over me and liked someone else."

"He probably just said that to make you jealous," the red-head responded.

"No, I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying," Dawn insisted, pouting. Suddenly she grinned. "Hey, maybe it's _you_ he likes!" She slipped a charm of a dress on followed by two more pink beads and a mesprit charm. Dawn smiled at this charm, remembering how she had seen Mesprit's projected soul the first day she had started her pokémon journey.

Zoey laughed at this. "As if," she said. "If he did like somebody else, it would be somebody like you. I'm nothing like you."

"That's not true! I mean, we're both coordinators!"

"Yeah, but that's all we have in common pretty much. I mean, think about it: you have long hair, I have short hair; you're nice and sweet, I'm 'mean' and 'tough'; you wear dresses and skirts and all kinds of cute clothes, meanwhile all I wear pretty much is jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts. Face it Dawn, we're complete opposites basically."

"You two are pretty different," Misty commented quietly. "To be honest, when I first met you two I was surprised you two were such good friends."

"Hey, the phrase opposites attract can refer to friends, too," Dawn said, smiling. Carefully, she tied her finished bracelet around her wrist.

Just then Daisy walked in. "Hey guys!" she greeted. "Like, guess who just arrived? That's right! The boys!" Daisy grinned, doing an eyebrow waggle that made Dawn laugh.

Dawn checked the pokétch on her wrist. "Wow, that was pretty quick. It's like barely twelve right now!"

Daisy nodded in agreement. "They're, like, in my office right now," she informed them before walking back out again. "Better go check on them. When I left Ash and that purple-haired dude, Polo, were like arguing about something."

"Well, we better go then." May, Misty, and Zoey all got up and headed for the door. Misty turned back to see Dawn carrying the beads and charms back to the cabinets. "Are you coming, Dawn?"

"Yeah, I am," she said. "Go on without me, I'll catch up once I put these up."

"Well, alright…" Misty murmured, shutting the door behind her.

When the beads and charms were put up, Dawn glanced around the empty room. A weird feeling suddenly came over her, as if she was being watched. She shook her head and crossed the room to the door. When she was in front of the door she stopped and looked at herself in the mirror.

She ran a quick hand through her hair and smoothed the wrinkles out of the ash gray spaghetti strap top she was wearing with a sweat jacket that was as white as snow. Staring hard at herself in the mirror, she leaned in close to the mirror, and rubbed her index finger against the soft spot under her eye in an attempt to wipe away a black smudge from her mascara.

Tentatively, she also ran a finger over her eyebrow where it was slightly swollen from the day before. Straightening her stance again, she pulled at her dark shorts in an attempt to lengthen them and messed with her bangs so they covered the pink mark above her eye. Finally, she sighed, frowning at herself.

When another strange wave of paranoia came over her, she turned away from the mirror and walked out the door, ready to face her childhood friend, her best guy friend, her past celebrity crush, and her dreaded counseling "buddy".

* * *

"Hey, what took you so long?" May asked.

"I thought you three left to go see the guys?" Dawn asked, surprised to see her three best friends just a few feet away the Arts and Crafts cabin.

"We decided to wait for you," Zoey responded. "So, you ready to go?"

Dawn nodded.

"Good! Let's go then!" Misty exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air, grinning.

Dawn trailed after Misty and Zoey with May who must have been feeling just as anxious as her about seeing the guys again. When they weren't even twenty feet away, the girls could hear some arguing coming from inside the office.

"_I told you to not to cut through the woods…!__"_ Dawn felt goosebumps rise on her arm as she recognized the voice as belonging to Paul.

Even after all these years, he still sounds the same…

"_Well, hey, at least we got here quicker!__"_Dawn smiled as she recognized Ash's voice, bringing back memories from when she was ten and she had first started her journey.

"_Hey, hey, can__'__t we all just get along?__"_ Kenny's voice. Her smile turned into a grin.

The two ignored Kenny, continuing their argument as if nobody had even spoken.

"I don't even know how to change a tire!"

With Zoey in the lead, they walked in. Dawn bit her lip, trying her best to stop a grin from overtaking her face, butterflies filling her chest. She felt as if she was at a class reunion!

"Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to run over something that gave us a flat tire!" Paul retorted.

Dawn's eyes turned to Paul, taking in his shoulder-length plum-colored hair, his scornful onyx-colored eyes, his broad shoulders, and his outfit which was basically the same outfit she had seen him in the last time she saw him, the sizes being the only possible difference.

Wow, she thought. It felt weird seeing Paul again after not even seeing him, or even thinking about him really, for almost seven years.

"How was I supposed to know we would get a flat tire going that way?" Ash responded, glaring at him.

Dawn smiled as she saw Ash. She had seen him only a month ago, when they had both attended Daisy's wedding, but it was always a nice thing to see the chocolate eyed, messy-haired man.

"Chuuu…" Pikachu sighed, perched on Ash's shoulder.

"Man…" Kenny sighed, agreeing with the electric rodent.

Dawn's smile widened at the sight of her childhood friend. Kenny looked almost exactly as he had when he was younger, the only differences being that he was now five foot ten, thinner, and had hair that was about half an inch longer. Just then Kenny spotted her and everybody.

"Dawn!" he exclaimed, his eyes brightening instantly. "And… Zoey!" The red-head rolled her eyes, her arms folded across her chest.

Both Ash and Paul looked up. Ash's eyes brightened at the sight of his friends. Paul only scowled. "Hey! You guys are counselors here too?" he exclaimed.

"Yep!" Misty chirped, walking up to him.

"Thanks to Misty's sister," May added, grinning.

"You never told me this." Ash pouted.

"Well, you never told us you were going to be counselors here," Misty responded coolly back. "So how the heck were we supposed to know we were supposed to tell you we were going to be counselors here too?"

Ash looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, good point."

"Ummm, I would, like, hate to break up this_ lovely_ reunion," Daisy interrupted, her long, French-manicured nails tapping her desk. "But we have things to discuss, like, you know, _your activities_."

The chatter ceased as all eyes turned to the blonde-haired beauty.

"I figure we might as well discuss the activities you'll be doing today, that way you all know ahead of time what you'll be doing so you can, like, prepare for it, you know?"

The room remained quiet and Daisy took this as a cue to continue; she took out a clipboard and a pen.

"Okay, like, here is how it'll go down: I'll call you up two at a time, depending on who is partnered up with who, and I'll be explaining to each of you your responsibilities and goals in the activity you'll be directing," Daisy explained, sounding official and looking official as she scribbled something down on the clipboard she was holding. "Now I want everybody to go outside and wait until I call your name. May, Drew, I'll explain your activity first, so please stay and take a seat."

May looked around, suddenly realizing that she hadn't even seen Drew yet. Finally, she spotted him in a corner, hidden in the shadows, leaning up against the wall.

"Wow, Daisy kind of scares me when she acts all mature and official and everything," Misty whispered to May before walking out the door. "Good luck with Daisy. And Drew."

"Thanks," May responded back before turning awkwardly to Drew who she hadn't seen in Arceus knew how long. How long _had_ it been? Two years? Three? As May struggled to call up an image of the last time she saw him in person, she couldn't help but notice some obvious changes in his appearance.

His hair was longer, his chartreuse-colored locks reaching down nearly to his shoulder, and his bangs were grazing his eyebrows. He was also taller, being nearly a head taller than her, and he was more muscular, muscles flexing underneath the black t-shirt he wore every time he moved. His face was also more mature, his face more angular and manly. Staring at him, May couldn't help but wonder if she looked any different to him. She was pretty sure she had grown a few inches since she last saw him, and she had gotten a bit curvier, but that was about it.

Suddenly aware of a set of sapphire eyes watching him, Drew glanced up, still slouched against the wall; May looked away, startled, as their eyes connected.

"Take a seat," Daisy instructed, pointing to the two armchairs a foot away from her desk. They both obeyed, watching as Daisy shuffled papers around and flipped through folders, looking as if she had done this all her life.

"So you two are going to be the camp directors for the Arts and Crafts activities, since your resume shows you're both excellent coordinators which, like this position, requires creativity," Daisy began. "Arts and Crafts will take place in Cabin A which is right across from here – as you already know May."

Drew turned to look out the cabin's huge window with its withdrawn blinds and saw a decent-sized cabin with a sign in front of it that said "Cabin A – Arts and Crafts Room". Drew's eyebrows rose at the sight of the rainbow-colored cabin.

"You will both be working with paint, pottery, wood, and many other materials. The activities you will be teaching to the other campers includes drawing, painting, spinning pottery, wood carving, and numerous other activities which you'll need to learn how to do. I have a list of all these activities which I'll give to you in a minute," Daisy told them, starting to flip through folders in search of this "Activity List".

May's eyes widened at Daisy's last sentence. "Wait – we have to know how to spin pottery and carve wood?" she exclaimed. "B-but I don't know how to do any of that stuff! I never learned!"

"Which is like, why I said you need to learn," the blonde responded calmly back.

"But I _suck_ at Arts and Crafts," she protested. "Can't I get some other activity to direct? I can barely even cook edible pokémon food! There's _no way _I'll be able to spin pottery or carve wood without cutting something off, like a thumb or, or, or something!"

Suddenly there was a chuckle besides May and the brunette turned her eyes toward the chartreuse-haired boy who flipped his hair, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"I can you teach you, May," Drew told her. "I know how to paint, spin pottery, carve wood, everything."

"Huh?" May frowned at him, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "How?"

"Perfect!" Daisy chirped, clapping her hands together. "See, no need to make any unnecessary changes with this lovely gentlemen here to help you along, May."

Drew's smirk widened at the term Daisy used to describe him and flipped his hair again. May was still staring at Drew in disbelief.

Impossible, she thought. He can't possibly know how to do all that!

"Also as partners who are both sharing the responsible of the Arts and Crafts activity, you two are going have to collaborate together sometime, to like, brainstorm new arts and crafts ideas for the campers to use. I mean, you don't have to do every activity on my list, it would just be preferable."

May was still feeling uncertain about the whole activity and her being in charge of it, but nonetheless, she nodded.

"Good!" Daisy clapped her hands together. "That's about it, I think. Here's that list of arts and crafts activities you can do along with other potential ideas. You're dismissed now; on your way out please send Ash and Misty in. Thank you!"

* * *

Misty waited on one of the benches outside of Daisy's office, her legs crossed as her fingers anxiously drummed her leg. Ash was sitting next to her, looking relaxed with his arms folded behind his head and his legs open.

"I never saw your sister as the camp director type," Ash commented.

"Nobody did," Misty responded, smiling.

Ash grinned, and Misty felt her heart thump in her chest at the adorable dimples that appeared in his cheeks. "So how are you?" she asked. "I haven't seen you since Tracy's and Daisy's wedding!"

"I'm doing good," he responded. "And so is pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu's ear perked up at its name and it opened its eyes sleepily as it let out a cute little yawn. The poor pokémon was pooped from the long driving trip. Give it a charizard to fight, it'll fight it no problem, but give it car trips and the poor thing gets worn out.

Misty smiled at the little electric mouse and scratched its chin.

"Chuu!" Pikachu squealed, jumping from Ash's lap to Misty's shoulder and nuzzled her head.

"Aw, I've missed you too, Pikachu!" Misty giggled.

Just then May and Drew exited Daisy's office. May had a frown on her face while Drew looked nonchalant as he flicked his bangs and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Daisy wants you two," Drew said, pointing to Misty and Ash.

"Oh, okay."

The two stood up, Pikachu in Misty's arms, and entered Daisy's office. The two took the two seats pulled up in front of Daisy's desk and waited for her to begin.

"Okay, so you two will be like, the fish of all the counselors, my mermaid and my merman. You two will be put in charge of everything that has to do with the lake. You two will be on lifeguard duty most of the time, you know, to make sure nobody drowns in the lake and also to make sure that everybody has a swimming buddy; you two will also be in charge of canoeing, checking the canoes, and fishing."

"Sounds easy enough," Ash said cheerfully, grinning.

"Sounds like a relaxing summer to me," Misty agreed, also grinning.

"It may be easy, but just remember not to slack off too much, _especially _during lifeguard duty," Daisy instructed, her face serious as she glanced from her baby sister to Ash and back again to Misty. "I'm serious. I will not have someone drown at this camp! Not when I'm here anyway… this place feels creepy enough as it is…."

As if on cue, a cold breeze blew through the open window, sending shivers down all of their arms.

"Don't worry, we won't let that happen," Misty reassured her. She jabbed Ash in the arm. "Right, Ash?"

"Right!" Ash agreed.

"Good. Now, that would be all, so—"

"Wait! Since we're gonna be lifeguards most of the time, does that mean we get one of those cool tall chair thingies?" Ash questioned, his chocolate-colored eyes bright.

Daisy quirked an eyebrow, confused, and then nodded as she realized what he was talking about. "Yes, you each get your own portable high chair while on duty. Now if that's all," Daisy reached under her desk and grabbed two white kits with a red cross on it and then reached under the desk again to grab two blue books, also with a red cross on it. "This book explains the lifeguard duties and how to identify the kinds of swimming taking place along with how to give first aid and apparently some other medical stuff you need to know. Study it. Meanwhile, these two kits are first aid kits in case of any accidents."

Both teens took a copy of the book and the first aid kits.

"You are both dismissed now. Please send in Kenny and Zoey on your wait out."

* * *

Dawn yawned, her arms stretched out behind her. She crinkled her nose as she squinted up at the blinding sunlight, and she used her hand to block the rising sun from her view.

"So, why are you here at Camp Scarlet?"

Dawn turned towards Kenny, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. She felt hot and sticky in the sweat jacket and dark short shorts she was wearing and the sun wasn't helping with its relentless hot rays. Where was a nice ocean breeze when you needed one?

Oh yeah, by the ocean. On the other side of the mountains.

"I'm here because of Misty," Dawn explained. "See, Misty's sister, Daisy, got hired as the head director of this camp and Daisy didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers or something, so she made Misty and all her other sisters come with her. So Misty asked me, May and Zoey if we wanted to come to camp with her since we're her closest friends and we agreed. May's brother is even coming to this camp."

"Oh, that's cool," Kenny said, grinning.

"Plus there was a shortage of counselors," Dawn added. She frowned, her eyebrows wrinkling together. "For some reason the counselors from last year didn't want to come back. I don't see why not though. This place is really pretty!"

"It is," Kenny agreed, his dark eyes never leaving hers.

"So, Zo, what pokémon did you bring with you?" Dawn questioned. "I was going to ask you yesterday, but I forgot to."

"Really? We were in a car for like six hours, with almost nothing to talk about, and not once did you remember to ask me what pokémon I bought?"

Dawn shrugged. "I was looking at the scenery."

"More like daydreaming," May giggled. "About a _guy_." Dawn's eyes widened, letting her mouth drop open, as if to feign shock. "Oh, don't act as if you weren't Dawn. I know that dreamy look in your eyes anyplace, Miss Romantic. Plus, I heard you sleep talking last night…"

Dawn's cheeks burned up in embarrassment, and as if instinctively, she quickly glanced at Paul but he was looking the other way, away from them, as if trying to pretend they didn't exist. Dawn only prayed he wasn't eavesdropping at the moment.

"So, um, Zoey, what pokémon did you bring again?" Dawn asked nervously, eager to change the subject.

"You were thinking about a guy?" Kenny, stupid but lovable Kenny, asked, a hurt look on his face. He quickly covered up the hurt with a mischievous grin. "So what guy were you thinking of?"

Dawn stared at him, feeling guilty. She wasn't young and clueless anymore; she knew Kenny still had feelings for her, but unfortunately, despite all her maturing in the last seven years, her romantic interest in Kenny had remained the same. She loved Kenny, but only as a friend. He was a nice and adorable guy, and she knew he would find a girl who would love him for him someday, but he just wasn't her type. Nonetheless, she wanted to spare his feelings.

"I wasn't thinking of a guy," it was only a half-lie. Well, she liked to think of it as a half lie. She hadn't been thinking of any guy in _particular_. She had just been dreaming of some random guy her mind had conjured up and had placed him in the middle of her romantic daydreams. Hmm, maybe it really was a white lie, not a half-lie… And then last night she _had_ been dreaming about a particular guy.

"Sure, DeeDee," Kenny teased, grinning.

Dawn scowled, looking away. "So what are you and Drew doing? You're the Arts and Crafts directors, right?"

"Quit trying to change the subject," May told her. "You were dreaming about some guy, and—"

"We're going to be doing all kinds of arts and craft things," Drew told her, having mercy enough to spare the blunette from her friends' good-natured but embarrassing teasing. "We'll be drawing, painting, spinning pottery, and whatever other stuff comes to mind."

"Oooh, sounds like fun," Dawn chirped. "I'm going to have to stop by there someday to make something. Maybe you could make—"

Just then Ash and Misty exited Daisy's office.

"Oh hey, that was quick!" Dawn exclaimed. "How did it go?"

"Good," Misty responded. "We have swimming, canoeing, fishing, and life guard duty! Life is good!" The red-head sighed happily.

"And lucky you, Ash is your partner," Dawn said, smiling.

"Yeah… Thinking of that, Daisy wants you Zoey," she said. She turned to Kenny, "you too."

"Me?" Kenny asked, dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because she's going to explain the camp activity you and Zoey will be doing?" Misty responded, quirking an eyebrow. "Why else? It's not to have tea, that's for sure. Trust me."

"Oh, so Zoey's my partner," Kenny said, unable to stop a hint of disappointment from creeping into his voice, despite the grin on his face. Zoey narrowed her eyes at Kenny, her face blank, but said nothing. "Coolio!"

Paul looked up suddenly, watching as the two entered Daisy's office. His eyes then traveled slowly to Dawn, who was sitting alone while the other four sat in groups of two, talking (or in May's and Drew's case, arguing) about the activity they would be directing.

Dawn sighed very softly, trying to ignore the feeling of Paul's eyes on her.

Oh, joy, she thought. Fun, fun, fun.

* * *

Daisy smiled as Zoey and Kenny approached. The two took a seat in the chairs placed in front of her desk. Zoey waited expectantly while Kenny took a moment to admire the chair and its softness.

"Whoa, these are some soft chairs!" Kenny exclaimed, spinning in it. "What is this made out of?"

Daisy sweat dropped as Kenny continued to spin in the chair, such a childish act, and she couldn't help but ponder if she had made a mistake assigning him to an activity that required a great amount of intelligence and such. Daisy shook her head. It was too late to make any changes now.

"Um, like, I don't know what the chairs are made out of," Daisy told him, her eyebrow twitching slightly. "Like…please stop spinning. You're giving me a headache."

"Oh, sorry," Kenny apologized, grinning sheepishly, as he allowed his chair to come to a halt.

"Anyways," Daisy started, "You two are in charge of Bird Calling, Pokémon Tracking, and everything in-between. This requires a great amount of intelligence, and you like, sounded like an intelligent kind of person, perfect for this activity, based on Misty's description of you." She directed this last compliment towards Zoey.

Zoey smiled, pleased by the compliment.

"And you also picked me for this activity based on my intelligence, too, right?" Kenny asked, grinning, straightening his stance and puffing out his chest.

"Not really. It's just that I've already chosen everyone else for the other activities except the hiking one, but you didn't sound right for that one since that requires hiking and stuff."

Kenny stared at her for a moment, blinking, before bursting out, offended, "Wait, are you calling me FAT?" he asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Not at all," Daisy responded calmly back, smiling kindly. "Just not athletic. And I just thought our other contestant sounded like a better bet for the hiking bit."

Nonetheless Kenny continued to frown unhappily, a pout on his lips. Zoey stared at the dorky teenage boy through the corner of her eyes, wondering whether she should be amused or sympathetic.

"Moving on," Daisy's fingers drummed her desk, while she continued to smile kindly at them. "You two will be teaching the campers about bird pokémon. You should at least know a few fun facts about each of them, and you will also have to learn how to mimic their calls. You will also be tracking pokémon which means knowing what footprints belong to which pokémon. You will also be teaching them about all of the pokémon found in the woods, or as many as you can teach in two months, anyway."

"We have to know all that?" Kenny exclaimed, slumping against his chair. Bird calling, tracking pokémon's footprints, getting pooped on by bird pokémon… Suddenly, Camp Scarlet didn't sound like so much fun.

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle," Zoey reassured him.

"Maybe," Kenny grumbled gloomily, arms folded across his chest.

Daisy nodded and pulled out six books from inside her desk.

"This book," she held up a baby blue book with a pidgey on the cover that was about two inches thick for them to see, "contains everything you need to know about bird species, including how to mimic their call. This book," she held up a purple book with a footprint on the cover. "Contains pictures of every pokémon's footprint and additional information on the pokémon. And finally, this book," she held up a green book with a picture of a forest and a campfire on the cover. "Contains all the pokémon found in these words and information and facts on them. You should both find these very useful. If I was you two, I would study these."

She handed a copy of each book to them.

"Would that be all?" Zoey questioned.

Daisy nodded. "Yes, that would be all. Send Dawn and Paul in on your way out, okay?"

"Got it." Zoey said as she exited the office, Kenny following gloomily behind her.

* * *

Dawn looked up eagerly at the sound of the door to Daisy's office opening, glad to focus her attention on something other than the thick tension between her and Paul. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the gloomy look on Kenny's face and the three thick books they both carried.

"So, how did it go?" Dawn asked, forcing herself to sound cheerful.

"Good for me, not so good for Kenny," Zoey told her. "I don't think Kenny's looking forward to having to study all these books."

"You have to study all those books?" Dawn asked, surprised.

Zoey nodded.

"Glad I'm not you!" she laughed, grinning.

Zoey smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Thinking of that, Daisy wants you and Paul now." Dawn's smile vanished and Zoey's smile grew. "Have fun," she whispered, chuckling as she took her seat between Misty and Kenny.

"Evil," Dawn huffed under her breath.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Paul was already out of his seat, and when she turned back around, she saw Paul was already entering Daisy's office. Reluctantly, she followed behind him.

C'mon, snap out it, Dawn told herself. Being Paul's partner in this counseling thing won't be so bad… I mean, hey, I'll get to spend more time with him, so I'll get to know more about him. Maybe we'll even be friends!

Dawn almost laughed at the last part.

As if Paul wanted to be her friend. The very thought of Paul wanting to be her friend, or anybody's friend in fact, was just hysterical.

When Dawn entered Daisy's office the first thing she saw was Daisy's smiling face. The second thing she saw was Paul's back as he stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, reluctant to take a seat.

"Please take a seat," she told them both, still smiling as she gestured towards the two chairs placed in front of her large desk.

Paul was the first one to take a seat; he took the chair on the right side, so she was forced to sit in the chair on the left. Not that she didn't like the left chair... It was actually really comfy; the chair on the right, however, was a more appealing shade of dark blue (like her hair) while hers was a dull gray.

Dawn forced herself to focus on Daisy, and what she was saying, and not the color of the chairs they were sitting in. However, it was very hard to focus on Daisy with the tense presence of Paul right beside her, tension and discomfort filling the air like static, causing her to want to fidget and squirm in her seat. She resisted the urge to glance at Paul through the corner of eyes, repeating over and over again in her mind, _don__'__t look at him, don__'__t look at him, don__'__t…_

"So, Dawn Berlitz and Paul Strongman," Daisy said, still smiling that sickly sweet smile at them. "A coordinator and a trainer… just out of curiosity, do you two know each other?"

An uneasy silence filled the room, causing Dawn to squirm even more in her seat as she straightened her stance and pulled at the top she wore underneath her jacket. She felt so sweaty and sticky!

"Oh. Um," she started, unsure what to say. Honestly, she wasn't even sure if Paul recognized her or remembered her as Ash's old friend. Surely Ash had mentioned her though around his presence?

"We were acquaintances in the past," Paul explained calmly. At that moment Dawn felt Paul's eyes linger on her for a moment and she combed her hair with her fingers, a nervous habit of hers.

Well, she guessed that answered her previous question: he did remember her.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"That's good!" Daisy said cheerfully. "Because like, I knew Drew was a rival and old friend of May's since I've heard her talk about him all the time with Misty, and I figured Zoey and Kenny knew each other since they both know you, and obviously Misty knows Ash, but I wasn't sure about you two. This is great though! You two already know each other, so you won't have to go through that awkward stage of meeting somebody new and getting used to them!"

Dawn wasn't quite sure about that. What about that awkward stage of meeting up with your friend's old rival who you hardly ever talked to and who hardly even acknowledged your presence after seven years of not even seeing him?

Whoa, wordy, Dawn thought, sweat dropping as she replayed the sentence in her head.

"Anyway," Daisy continued on, oblivious. "You two will be the camp directors of the Hiking and Camping Activity! This means you two will like, be in charge of leading and looking after a group of campers on a hiking trail. You two also will also take up to eight campers at a time on a camping trip about once a week, preferably on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

"Alrighty then, that doesn't sound too bad!" Dawn said, forcing herself to sound enthusiastic.

Meanwhile Paul only gave a slight nod, looking as if he could care less and as if he had better things to be doing with his time then sit around and listen to Daisy explain what they would be doing for the next two months. His silence annoyed Dawn, considering how uncomfortable it made her; she had to fight the urge to twitch as a slightly awkward silence filled Daisy's cabin.

"And um, like, that's it!" Daisy chirped, clapping her hands together. She was probably wondering what the hell was wrong with them.

This time Dawn's eyebrow did twitch.

She was doomed. Her summer at Camp Scarlet had been doomed from the start. She was going to be forced to cooperate with a man who was even more stony and silent than a rock. Briefly Dawn imagined knocking on his head only to hear the echo of an empty, soulless body.

Is he even human? Dawn wondered. He wasn't like this around Ash all those years ago…was he? No, they were always arguing. He was indifferent back then too, but he was also passionate on his views on pokémon and their trainers. So why was he being so silent now?

"You're dismissed now," the blonde told them. "Feel free to explore the trails up in the forest and mountains. Just remember to watch out for poisonous pokémon and ditches and don't travel too far; we don't need you two getting lost."

Dawn stayed about a foot behind Paul as they exited the cabin, eyeing him warily. They both stopped a few feet away from the old office.

Gaining the confidence to speak, Dawn asked as enthusiastically as she could muster, "So what should we do now?"

Paul turned towards her, giving her a blank look that immediately caused her mouth to pull down in a frown as she briefly wondered if she had just spoken gibberish or if she had just asked a stupid question. Quickly she replaced her frown with a smile, but nonetheless the smile wavered.

"I'm going to be training," he told her, slowly, as if she was an idiot who could only process things so quickly. She nodded. "You, you can do whatever the hell you want. Just don't bug me."

Dawn scowled, not missing the attitude he gave her. "But what about searching for hiking trails? You know we have to get ready for our activity before the campers get here."

"We can search for trails tomorrow," he responded back, also scowling. "And we have a week to prepare for their arrival."

Dawn was about to protest further, but then sighed, realizing her words would be pointless considering who she was saying them to.

"Fine, tomorrow then," she agreed, turning sharply away as she looked for something else to do.

Geez, you would think he doesn't even want to be here! Dawn thought, annoyed.

As it turned out, she wasn't far from the truth.

* * *

"This room is quite artsy," Drew commented as he entered the Arts and Crafts cabin.

He glanced around the room, raising an eyebrow slightly as he saw the head of the Stantler. He walked up to the desk and bent down so he was at eye-level with the fake white noctowl. He narrowed his eyes to slits, as if he was challenging it to a glare-down. After a while he stood back up again, giving the noctowl a quick pat on the head.

"Good birdie…" he muttered. He turned around to see May frowning, her arms folded across her chest, a single wrinkle in her forehead.

"I can't believe I'm going to be stuck here all summer," she said.

Drew smirked. "Don't feel so bad May. After all, you have _me_ to help you survive the danger of scissors and paper cuts."

"Hmph!" May humph-ed, sticking her tongue out at the chartreuse-haired teen. "What-_ever! _Honestly, I think I'm more scared at the thought of spending two months here with _you_ than spending two months doing something I suck at."

"You know you don't mean that," Drew said, a smug grin on his face. "You know you've missed me."

May just turned away, a blush burning on her cheeks. "Jerk." Okay, so maybe she did miss him a little bit…

Drew walked around the classroom, making his way over to the cabinets. He opened them and peered inside, a smile crossing his face in satisfaction as he saw the materials inside.

"Perfect. It looks like we'll have plenty of supplies to use for the next two months!" He announced cheerfully.

"Grrrr-_eat_…" May muttered, frowning unhappily.

Drew turned toward her, his eyebrow raised. "What's with you?"

She sighed. "Nothing." She turned away, but Drew's intense gaze continued to burn into her back.

Trying to ignore his eyes on her, she focused her attention on her reflection in the mirror next to the door. She ran her fingers through her bangs and adjusted them on her forehead. She watched through the mirror as Drew's figure approached her. His figure disappeared from the mirror as he leaned up against the door. May looked up, sapphire eyes blank.

"Hey, if you're worried about doing this Arts and Crafts thing because you don't know how to paint or spin pottery or whatever, don't sweat it. Like I said back in Daisy's office, I can teach you how to do all those things."

May was silent for a while, contemplating this offer. "You really know how to do all that stuff?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Drew nodded.

"How?"

"I just do," he responded, flipping his bangs. May couldn't help but smile at his little quirk. Suddenly Drew smirked, and like magic, a rose appeared between Drew's forefinger and middle finger. May's smile lengthened.

He really hadn't changed at all.

"Just leave it all to me and you'll be an arts and crafts expert before you know it. Just meet me in here tomorrow at eight, and I'll teach you whatever you want to be taught. Okay?"

May nodded. "Okay."

Drew opened the door, ready to make his exit. "See ya, May," he said, holding his hand up, Drew's equal of a wave.

"Yeah… see ya…" she agreed softly, her fingers caressing the petals of Drew's trademark red rose.

* * *

Misty exited the shower stalls, dressed in her blue boy shorts and yellow-and-white striped bikini top, black sunglasses perched on her head. She was grinning as she made her way down to the beach, beach towel rolled and tucked neatly under her armpit, white sunscreen visible on her nose.

"Hey, Mist!" Ash greeted, grinning as he waved at her, dressed in nothing but green swimsuit bottoms that went to his knees. Misty smiled as she approached him and unrolled her towel next to his.

"Hey," she greeted. "So what have you been up to lately? Training? Catching pokémon? Battling other trainers?"

"Pretty much all three," Ash responded, folding his arms behind his head. "So how long has your sister been married now? Three months? Four months? Five?"

Misty stared at Ash as if he was stupid. "Ash, her wedding was just last month."

Ash blinked. "Really? It feels like it has been at least a _few_ months!"

Misty sighed and rolled over on her belly, letting the sun's rays warm her back. Her eyes fluttered close as she listened to the peaceful combination of the forest pine needles brushing against each other in the breeze, pidgeys and pidgeottos calling to each other in the distant, and… Ash munching on chips.

…Well, okay, maybe that last one wasn't exactly peaceful.

Sighing some more, Misty buried her face in her towel, attempting to tune out this last noise.

Suddenly, there was a scuffling noise behind her; looking up, Misty saw Zoey, dressed in her bright red tankini top and bottoms, already lying down on her orange beach towel as she buried her nose in a book titled Everything You Need to Know about Bird Calling and Our Feathered Friends.

I am so glad I didn't get stuck with that activity, Misty thought, feeling sympathy for her friend. Laying her head back on her towel, she closed her eyes, a tranquil atmosphere finally settling around her.

"Hey, what book are you reading, Zo?" Ash questioned before shoving another mouthful of chips in his mouth. _Crunch crunch crunch. _Misty's eyebrow twitched.

"It's called 'Everything You Need to Know about Bird Calling and Our Feathered Friends'," Zoey responded. "It's a book I'm required to read for the activity I was assigned."

"Really?" he said. _Crunch crunch crunch. _"Glad I'm not you!"

Rude, much! Misty thought. She had thought the same thing, but at least she hadn't said so out loud.

Zoey just shrugged, clearly not minding.

Right when Misty's peaceful atmosphere was beginning to form again, it was shattered once more by the sound of a bag full of numerous materials plunking to the ground and the movement of Dawn unrolling her beach towel next to Zoey. Misty decided to give up on the idea of a peaceful afternoon at the beach.

"Hey, shouldn't you be with Paul, doing whatever you're doing for your activity-thing?" Ash asked. He frowned as he dug his hands into his Doritos bag only to find it empty.

Finally! Misty thought.

"No," she retorted, snorting. "He's 'training'." Misty raised an eyebrow. The blunette was obviously peeved by this. Dawn sighed.

"Hey, how does this look on me?" Dawn asked, referring to her bathing suit. "It's not too skimpy, is it?" Misty's eyes scanned briefly over Dawn and her teeny weeny black bikini.

"It's cute," she commented. "And don't worry; it's no skimpier than any other bikini."

Dawn rolled her eyes, a smile curving her lips. "Good. If you said it was, I would have had to change into another bathing suit."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "How many bathing suits did you bring?"

"A few," she admitted. "Like I also have a one-piece, a monokini, a tankini…oh, and boy shorts just like yours, only mine has one of those pink Hawaiian flowers on the left leg…or is the right leg?" The blunette's eyebrows furrowed together thoughtfully before she shrugged, deciding it wasn't really important. "And a few other bikinis, too. You can never have too many swimsuit options!"

"Apparently not," Misty muttered, sweat dropping.

"Hey!" Misty looked up to see that the latest visitor was Kenny in blue boarding shorts. He was grinning, a towel hanging over one arm and no books in sight.

"Shouldn't you be studying those books Daisy gave you?" Misty asked him, narrowing her eyes.

"Huh?" Misty pointed towards Zoey, who still had her nose buried in the book, her eyes intense as she took in everything the book said. "Oh!" Kenny shook his head, waving his hand in dismissal. "I'll study tomorrow."

"Suuuure you will," Misty mumbled, lying her head back on the towel.

"Hey, DeeDee—" Dawn's eyebrow twitched at the mention of her old nickname. "—you saw me in the last Grand Festival, right?" He asked eagerly, his eyes bright and his grin wide as he stood in front of the blunette, his chest puffed out.

Dawn nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I saw both you and Zoey; you both did great!"

Kenny's grin widened as he nodded in agreement, wallowing in her compliment. Beside Dawn, Zoey rolled her eyes. He was so obvious; the red-head couldn't help but feel embarrassed for him.

"So you saw my appeal, right? The Psychic-Hydropump combination Alakazam and Empoleon did?" Kenny asked. Again Dawn nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, it was really cool! I also really liked the Razor Wind and Ice Beam combination you did the second round! It was so cool how you used Razor Wind to make sculptors out of the ice!"

"Thanks," he said. "I came up with the idea myself. You see—"

As Kenny was in the middle of telling his story about how he came up with the idea (which was after watching some ice skating show) apparently, Zoey got up, book still in hand.

"Hey, where are you going?" Dawn questioned, interrupting Kenny's story. Kenny frowned, annoyed that his story was interrupted.

"Oh, I'm just leaving you two alone to _talk_," she responded, a smile curving her lips. Dawn blinked, at first oblivious to the double meaning behind Zoey's words, before setting an icy glare at the smirking tomboy, a blush burning her cheeks.

Kenny was OVER her, damn it!

As Zoey left for a much quieter place Kenny continued his story and many other stories after that, making dramatic gestures and his grin growing broader and broader as he did so.

It wasn't until much later, when the sun's gold rays were stretching across the amazing blue surface of the lake, that everybody decided to pack up and head back to their cabins to drop their stuff off and get dressed for dinner.

Wearing the same outfit from earlier, Dawn entered the cafeteria, Misty and Zoey by her side. The first thing Dawn noticed about the cafeteria was the rows of pictures on the cafeteria walls. The next thing she noticed was May who was already slurping loudly on a bowl of noodles.

"Hey, where have you been?" Dawn questioned her, taking a seat next to her.

"Catching up," she responded.

Dawn smirked. "With Drew?"

The brunette shook her head. "Nope! With our cook."

"Why would you be catching up with the cook?" Misty asked. "What, is he super-hot or something?"

Again, May shook her head and smiled. "You'll know why when you see him."

Dawn was about to respond when she was distracted by the loud clang of the cafeteria's doors closing. Turning her head Dawn saw the four boys walking in, Ash and Paul arguing about something while Drew appeared to be bragging to Kenny about something. Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together, her lips puckering slightly in annoyance as Paul walked by.

"Hey, have you three met the new cook yet?"

Dawn nearly jumped at the sound of Daisy's voice behind her. Immediately, Dawn felt a blush on her cheeks; turning away she forced herself to take a few deep breaths.

"No, not yet," Misty responded.

"Well, like, go see who he is!" Daisy told them, grinning. "I think you'll all be very pleased to know who it is! He just arrived today, shortly after Ash and everyone."

Okay, Dawn had to admit it, she was curious now. Standing up, the three girls walked past the boys and entered the doors that led to the kitchen.

"Hey, hey, dinner is not done yet!" A familiar voice called out.

"Brock!" Dawn gasped as the spiky-haired, slanted-eyed breeder rounded a corner, dishtowel in hands.

"Misty! Dawn! Zoey!" He greeted, grinning. "I should have known!"

* * *

About two hours later, after an hour of catching up with Brock and another hour of eating his delicious food, the girls decided to head back to their cabin, wanting to get a head start on their sleep to prepare for what would surely be a long day.

Dawn had stayed behind again though, claiming she wanted to remind Paul that they would be searching for trails tomorrow, something which was actually the truth.

Dawn followed Paul as he finally exited the cafeteria (he had cleaned up after Ash and the rest of the boys—he was surprisingly considerate).

"Paul!" she called.

The plum-haired man turned around, his face blank. "What?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

Dawn's eyebrow twitched slightly, but she forced herself to ignore his rudeness, and calmly explained, "I just wanted to remind you that you agreed to look for trails with me tomorrow."

"I remember," he said, scowling. Dawn bit the inside of her cheek, fighting back her own annoyance.

"Good." Dawn was about to turn away, when she suddenly remembered something from the previous day. "Oh, and happy birthday."

Paul's eyebrows raised slightly in shock. "How do you know today is my birthday?" he demanded. Dawn's cheeks blushed furiously; she had forgotten that she wasn't supposed to know today was his birthday.

"I saw your file," she admitted sheepishly.

"My file?"

"Yeah. It has your name, a biography on you, the pokémon you have…your birthday."

"And why were you looking at my file?" he asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I was curious. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be stuck with some creep," she defended herself, her face reddening. Well, it looked like she was _still_ stuck with a creep. "Geez, it's not that big of a deal."

Paul stared at her for a few minutes, and Dawn looked away, frustrated. Finally, he turned away and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Whatever," he said, walking away.

"Hmph! Whatever yourself!" she huffed, stomping back to her own cabin.

* * *

**Wow. Only the second chapter and already this one is over 11,000 words.**

**Also, there****'****s some foreshadowing in this chapter. ;D Anyone wanna guess what is it? Now,**

**Predictions?**

**Review? **

**And thanks to all who have already reviewed! They are all very much appreciated!**

**Next Chapter: What Love Does**


	3. What Love Does

**Horrors of Camping**

_.x._

_CHAPTER THREE_  
_What Love Does_

_.x._

The next morning, after eating a delicious breakfast (French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon), courtesy of Brock, Dawn searched for Paul. After making her way down to the lake to see if he was training there (he wasn't), she was surprised to find him leaning against the wall of her cabin, waiting for her.

"C'mon, let's go," he grumbled. "The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done."

Dawn highly doubted they would find enough trails to hike along for two months in such short time, but she decided not to point this out, figuring he was also aware of this fact and had just meant for the day.

"Okay! So where should we start?" she asked, clapping her hands together.

"The mountains," he answered automatically. "The mountains will have the most trails to explore."

Dawn nodded. "Right."

She followed quietly behind him as they cut through the forest, the dried leaves on the forest floor making crunching sounds as she stepped on them. Her blue eyes scanned the trunks and treetops of the trees, and she would smile every once in a while when she would spot a ratatta or a nidoran staring out at them from its hiding place.

"Hey, keep up," Dawn looked up from staring at a baby ratatta and its mom hiding in a bush to see Paul a few yards ahead, scowling at her.

"Sorry," she apologized, jogging up to him.

"Quit staring at all the pokémon," Paul told her. "They'll all be here when we get back. You've seen all of them before anyway, I'm sure."

Dawn scowled at this, but chose wisely not to say anything. She figured it wouldn't do her any good to argue with him.

I can't believe I'm stuck with him for two months, she thought, inwardly groaning.

As the two walked and the minutes dragged on, Dawn started to notice the trees beginning to thin. Not long after, the trees thinned completely and the two exited the forest (which, according to an old sign she saw while passing through it, was called "Verdant Forest"). Dawn looked up, her eyes widening slightly, as she saw just how massive the mountain really was.

Dawn followed a trail that led up to the mountain and stopped to read an old wooden sign staked into the ground.

"LEVIATHAN MOUNTAIN", it read. "The beastly mountain, named by the great pioneers of the 1800s".

"Okay, let's follow this trail and see where it leads," Paul said, already halfway up the trail.

"Um, right," she said, looking uneasy as she followed him. The trail they were following was flanked on both sides by large gray boulders, and Dawn found there were also a lot of small ruts in the ground which she kept tripping over.

"Darn it!" she griped as she tripped over another one.

Paul scowled as he turned around to face her. "Are you going to keep tripping over every small hole in the ground, or should I just let my torterra out to carry you?"

Dawn glared at him. "I don't need your torterra to carry me, _thankyouverymuch_," she snapped.

Even so, Paul took a poké ball out and Dawn watched in disbelief as the red light materialized to reveal a very massive continent pokémon.

"Hey, I told you I don't need Torterra to carry me!" she yelled, her voice involuntarily coming out whiny, like a little kid.

Paul rolled his eyes, although he sounded amused as he said, "I took Torterra out so we wouldn't get lost. Torterra is heavy enough so that his footprints will be deeper and thus, they will be easier to track when we head back."

"Hey, that's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that?" She frowned, tapping her chin. Paul narrowed her eyes at her, giving her a look that suggested he knew a not-so-nice reason why. He wisely kept his mouth shut though, shoving his hands in his pockets as he continued up the trail that was beginning to wind higher and higher into the mountain.

"Oh wow! This is a long trail," Dawn murmured. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She was really beginning to wish she had bought her jacket or at least worn something warmer than the blue shorts she was currently wearing with the pink V-neck tank top she had worn over another black tank top.

"Not really," Paul muttered back.

Dawn made a face behind his back and she turned when she heard something that sounded like a snicker come from Torterra. The blunette smiled at the large pokémon, pleased that his pokémon was fond of her at least.

"Aw, you're so much nicer than your big, grumpy trainer, aren't you?" she asked him, leaning down to pat his head.

"I heard that," Paul said, scowling.

"And?"

Paul stopped walking, turning his icy glare on her. She stopped about two feet away.

"What? You don't intimidate me!" she declared, placing both hands on her hips.

Paul closed the distant between her, his chest brushing hers. Shocked, Dawn stumbled back and she sweat dropped as she was reminded of just how much taller he was than her.

"Whatever," she muttered, looking away, a sheepish blush on her cheeks. "You still don't intimidate me."

Paul rolled his eyes but turned away as he continued the hike up the trail.

"Hey, shouldn't we be charting this?" she asked, the idea suddenly coming to mind.

"We can tomorrow," he responded gruffly back. "First we have to make sure the trail is actually good enough to chart and not some useless small trail."

"This trail looks good enough to chart to me," she muttered, sighing. She glanced at her pokétch and saw they have already been walking for an hour. "Yep, definitely looks good to me…"

About half an hour later, when Dawn was certain the trail would never end, it finally ended at a crag in the mountain.

"Oh, wow," Dawn breathed as she approached the small cliff. She squinted as she spotted something in the distance, something blue, something rolling, something that stretched across the horizon as far left and right as she could see.

"Is that the ocean?" She had a feeling it was, but she couldn't be certain. It was so far away, all the way on the other side of the mountain and farther, half hidden by the mountain.

Paul walked up beside her, also squinting as he used his hand as a visor. "Looks like it," he responded.

Just then an especially cold breeze passed through and Dawn gasped slightly from surprise. "I-it looks so sm-small from h-here," she commented, shivering as her teeth chattered. Another cold breeze passed through followed by another one.

Oh god, it is _freezing!_ she thought, desperately trying to warm herself up with her hands.

Paul raised an eyebrow as he watched her. "Are you really that cold?"

"Y-yeah," she responded, huffing. She looked up into the sky, her breaths starting to come quicker. She hadn't realized how much thinner the air was. "I-in case you haven't notice, I-I'm not wearing a j-j-jacket."

"Which is why you don't wear shorts when it's only sixty degrees out," he said dryly. Sighing, he shrugged out of his jacket. "Here, take mine."

Dawn blinked, surprised by the kind gesture. "R-really?" He nodded. She hesitated. Slowly, she started to reach out her hand, to grab it, before she quickly stopped herself. She shook her head.

"I don't need it," she decided. She cursed her luck as another cold wind passed through, making her teeth clatter even more uncontrollably.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "Take the jacket."

She glared at him. "I don't need it," she insisted and turned away. "C'mon, let's go. We need to find more trails."

"You are a nuisance," he decided, following after her. "Now take the damn jacket."

Through clenched teeth she forced out, "No."

"Fine. But if you catch a cold, it's your fault for being stupid."

"I'm not being stupid," she responded, annoyed now.

"You'll be begging for it when it gets colder," he told her, taking the lead once more as he walked pass her, his jacket back on. "And it's only going to get colder the higher up we go."

Dawn scowled. "Well, isn't somebody an expert on mountains," she grumbled. "I'll be fine."

Paul sighed, and when Dawn glanced over at him, she saw the annoyed look painting his features. "Great. Let's just get a move on already. I have better things to be doing right now than looking for mountain trails with you."

Dawn's eyes narrowed, an offended scoff escaping her lips. "Like what?" she asked.

"Like training my pokémon," he responded, turning left on a forked trail and heading higher up into the mountain. Dawn was huffing and puffing from the cold and the effort it took to keep up with his long strides.

"You know, we're not at this camp to train, we're at this camp to direct activities for the kids who will be coming here," she reminded him.

"Like I care," he scoffed.

Dawn blinked, stunned by his indifference. "Well, you should care. You're a counselor here!"

Suddenly, he came to a halt and turned towards her, his cold eyes piercing. Dawn nearly tripped and fell over torterra as the giant turtle also came to a stop. "Are you done yet?"

Dawn stared at him, her lips pulling down in a frown. "You act as if you don't even want to be here…" she commented softly.

"Bingo," he said, his face as stoic as ever. "Finally, you got it."

With those cold words still hanging in the air, he turned back around, continuing up the rocky mountain trail while Dawn stared helplessly after him.

Damn her luck.

* * *

When May walked into the Arts and Crafts cabin she was somehow not surprised to find Drew in front of the mirror, checking himself out.

"Drew?"

Drew turned, not surprised to see the brown-haired coordinator standing in the doorway, looking confused. "Oh hey, May," he greeted casually, flicking his hair.

"Were you just checking yourself out?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I can't help it. I'm just that good looking," he responded, smirking. May just stared at him in disbelief.

"Well, okay…" she said, sweat dropping.

Drew sweat dropped too. He coughed. "Okay, so let's get started. What do you want me to teach you?"

May shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Okay then, I can teach you to how to spin pottery then," he said.

"W-wait, spin pottery?" she stuttered.

Drew nodded. "Yeah. You said it didn't matter what I teach you, so I figured I might as well show you how make pottery." May sweat dropped and Drew raised an eyebrow. "C'mon May, it's not that hard."

"Um, I guess," she stuttered, poking her fingers together. "But still, maybe we can start off a little easier?" she suggested.

"May," he sighed, exasperated. "It's not that hard. Just try it."

"But—"

"May, you're going to have to learn how to make pottery eventually; we might as well just get it over with."

This time May sighed. "Okay, fine. What do I have to do?" She followed Drew reluctantly, her arms crossed, as he walked over to the cabinets, searching through each one.

"Okay, first thing first, the materials," he grunted as he lifted up a huge container full of what May guessed was clay. After placing it on the closest table, Drew reached up and pulled out what May recognized as a potter's wheel next and placed it beside the clay. Drew opened the lid on the container, took a big chunk of the brown clay, and handed it to her.

May frowned, sniffing it. It smelled like dirt. She squeezed it, smiling as she felt it go between her fingers. Drew also took a big glob of the clay and started to knead it.

"Okay, what you wanna do with the clay is warm it up," he told her, squeezing it into a ball and beginning to toss it hand to hand. "The best way to do that is to knead it or roll it into a round shape and do what I'm doing. You also want to make sure there are absolutely no air pockets."

"Umm," May just stared at the brown clay in her hand and then at him. She sweat dropped. "Warm it up?"

"Just do what I do," he told her.

"Toss it back and forth?" She looked uncertain. "But what if I drop it? Won't it get messed up or something?"

Drew eyebrow twitched and he rubbed his temple. "May, just toss the clay. It is simple, this doesn't require mathematics or anything. It doesn't matter if you drop it, alright? Just toss it around like I am."

"Okay, fine," she said, scowling slightly. "Geez, I was just wondering. No need to get crabby," she muttered. She looked at the clay in her hand, weighing it first before tossing it to her other hand.

Drew sweat dropped as May almost dropped it, making a dramatic attempt at catching it before hitting the ground.

"Ummm…" She tossed the clay again, this time her hands only two inch apart. She caught it. She repeated this, again and again. She found herself smiling as she found herself not fumbling for the clay. "Hey, I'm doing it!" she cheered.

"Very good. Is the clay warm yet?" he asked.

"Not really," she admitted. She started to toss the clay faster and faster before slowing down again after nearly dropping it again.

Okay, so fast doesn't work for me, she thought, sweat dropping. After a good while she pressed the clay to her face.

"Is it warm now?" May nodded. "Okay, good. Next you roll the clay into a 'snake'." He started to demonstrate, rolling the clay between his two hands, faster and faster, until it started to stretch out.

She watched him, uncertainly placing the clay between her palms and beginning to roll it between her hands. May giggled as she did so, the clay tickling the palms of her hands.

"This tickles," she giggled.

Drew smirked. As she finished creating her "snake", he continued, "Now using your snake, create a circle.

"Got it!" she chirped. "Wow, this is actually pretty easy."

"I told you it wasn't that bad," he responded, quite smugly. "Is that how big you want your base to be?"

May looked at her circle which she figured was a decent size. "Yeah."

"Great. That circle is now your base. Now what we have to do next is take the end of the 'snake' and coil it up on top of the base and you can coil it up as high as you want."

"Wait, wha…?" May looked at him and blinked, a frown pulling down her mouth. She did not understand a single thing he just said. They just connected the base didn't they, so how was she supposed to take one end and coil it up?

Drew looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Take one end of the snake and coil it up," he repeated. Again, all she did was stare at him. Drew scowled. "May, it's simple instructions. Just take one end of the snake and _coil it up_."

"I know what you said," she responded, her mouth pulling down even farther. "I just don't get what you mean. Didn't we just connect the ends, so how am I supposed to take one end and coil it up?"

Drew sighed and shook his head. May turned her gaze to the table, feeling stupid. Certainly she was over thinking the instructions and they were really quite simple like Drew said. She stared at the clay circle on the table, her brain starting to hurt as she did.

"May, the ends aren't connected. You can coil it up on top of the circle," Drew told her.

"I still don't understand," she said, her teeth gritted together.

"Do you want me to demonstrate?" he asked, trying to not let his impatience show. He had a feeling he was failing horribly. "C'mon, May, this is kindergarten stuff. It's _easy_."

"Well, _sorry!_" she snapped, glaring at the table, her eyes starting to sting. "But I'm not exactly the most artistic like _you_. And yes, I would like you to demonstrate!"

Drew sweat dropped. "Okay then. No need to get cranky, May."

"Well, it's kind of hard not to when you're making me feel like an idiot," she responded, folding her arms across her chest.

"Um, well," he started, sweat dropping some more. He cleared his throat and smirked, regaining his composure. _Play it cool, _he told himself. "Here. I'll do this part for you."

"I think I would rather learn how to do something else," May muttered.

"May, we already started this project, there's no point in moving on to something different," Drew sighed, his eyebrows twitching. "It would be pointless and stupid and in the end, a complete waste of time."

May was silent for a moment. When Drew looked back at her, he saw she had her arms crossed tightly around her chest, like it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart. Her eyebrows were furrowed together and her lower lip stuck out, trembling.

"I think it's a complete waste of time teaching me, period," she said after a while, her voice low.

_Why did I think I could do this? Why did I agree to this? I thought I could handle this, being a counselor here, that it would be easy, but…_ She felt her heart clench in her chest.

"Okay, May, was it wrong? What is with all this self-doubt in yourself all of a sudden?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She was silent.

"May, you're not doing bad. Okay, I admit, maybe my instructions aren't exactly the clearest and it's not like I teach this all the time, so I admit it, I'm probably not that good of a teacher. But that doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up over not knowing how to do this, or other stuff."

"I know," she said. "It's just…"

"It's just what?" he asked, his voice gentle, coaxing.

She sighed. "I don't know. I don't know why I freaked out. I'm sorry, I… I…" She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I guess it's just the pressure getting to me all of a sudden. Like I have less than a week to learn all this stuff, and I just don't want to look stupid in front of everyone for not knowing how to do something… It's stupid, I know."

"No, it's not; it's understandable," he responded.

She sighed. "I just… I don't even know why I'm so nervous," she admitted. "It's just… I don't know, maybe it's because everything is suddenly so different from what I imagined it would be. Like I imagined mostly singing campfire songs to kids and teaching them how to swim and hiking with them, Misty and Dawn and Zoey by my side, and now…"

"Now you're stuck with me," he said drily.

She frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Well, you don't have to say it like that. Like I think you're the worse person in the world."

Drew smiled. "So you don't think I'm the worse person in the world then? I'm flattered."

May laughed. She smiled, her eyes drifting to the ground as she twisted her fingers together nervously. "We did used to be friends once," she said quietly.

"But before that we were rivals," he said. "But yeah, we did used to be friends. I remember that… it feels like forever ago, and yet at the same time it feels like it was only yesterday."

"It does," she agreed. "How weird."

"How weird indeed," he muttered, staring out the window. Silver clouds hovered just over the forest, slowly creeping its way towards the cabins. The room darkened a fraction as the dark mass of clouds slowly passed over the sun.

"Well… um… the pottery thingy… so, how do you do the coil thing?" May asked timidly. She glanced up at Drew, her blue eyes bright in the darkness.

Involuntarily, he smiled.

"Here, I'll show you…"

* * *

"Chuuuu!"

Misty sighed contently, rolling onto her belly. "I agree."

"Pika, pikachu."

"Two months of this, oh man, I'm in paradise," Misty declared.

"Pika pika pi-ka?"

Misty smiled at the electric rodent. "You're such a gentleman, Pikachu. Sure."

Just then Ash walked by, licking an ice cream cone. "Hey, why is Pikachu rubbing sunscreen on your back, Misty?" Ash raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You're not making my pokémon into slaves now, are you?"

"Of course not," she responded calmly back, propping herself up on her elbows. "Pikachu just offered to put some on my back because he was worried about me getting sunburned.

"Besides, as I'm sure you can see, Charizard is over there, snoozing, and Totodile is doing a little happy dance in the lake, while Infernape and Sceptile are arm wrestling. And then Bayleef is about to run you down, of course."

Ash looked around and nodded as he confirmed that the rest of his pokémon were in fact doing all those things. "Of course. Wait a minute, did you just say—HOLY MILTANK, BAYLEEF!"

Misty giggled as Bayleef sat on top of Ash, nuzzling him as he reached out with grasping fingers for the ice cream he dropped, silent tears going down his face.

"My ice cream," he whimpered, sniffing. "I just got it."

"Don't be such a drama queen," Misty told him, rolling her eyes. "You can get a new one."

Pushing himself out from underneath Bayleef, he frowned and rubbed the back of his neck, sweat dropping as the affectionate pokémon started to nuzzle his leg.

"Bayleef bay!"

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed, jumping in front of Bayleef. He pointed towards the lake. "Pika, pi pikachu!"

"Bay bay!" she exclaimed. "Bayleef bay bay!"

"Pika!"

Misty smiled as she watched the two pokémon race for the shore, Bayleef's longer legs putting her in the lead up until Pikachu started to speed things up with quick attack.

"BAYLEEF!"

"Hey, you want to go get another ice cream with me?" Ash asked.

"I would, but I'm working on my tan," Misty responded, frowning.

"Oh, c'mon, Mist, you can work on your tan later," he responded. "Come on. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"Oh, fine," she agreed, standing up.

Ash grinned. "Great! Race ya to the kitchen!" Before she could even respond, Ash took off, leaving Misty in the dust.

"Hey, wait up!" she called, running after him. A moment later she spotted him, but he was still a good five feet ahead of her.

"Ha! You're losing, Mist!" he called out.

"Not for long!" she responded, gaining speed. Ash's eyes widened as Misty passed him.

"No way!" Staring hard at the ground, he urged his legs to run faster, his breaths coming in quick "hoo"s and "ah"s. "Gotta – beat - Misty!" He panted.

At the same time the two burst through the cafeteria door, shoulder to shoulder as they slammed open the kitchen door.

"I WIN!" They both declared.

"Whoa, what's going on in here?" Brock asked, sweat dropping as he saw the two red-faced teens huffing and puffing as they struggled to catch their breaths.

"Race," Misty responded.

"I won," Ash added. A vein popped on Misty's head, but she was too out of breath to argue with him.

"Right," Brock said, nodding.

When Misty finally caught her breath she muttered, "You wish." Before Ash had a chance to retort, she added to Brock, "Anyway, we're here because this bozo dropped his ice cream.

"Hey, it's not my fault it fell when Bayleef knocked me down!" Ash whined childishly. Misty rolled her eyes, smirking to herself.

"So would you like the three-scooped strawberry ice cream again with chocolate syrup and sprinkles?" Brock asked.

Ash nodded cheerfully. "And don't forget the waffle cone!"

Brock turned to Misty. "Would you like some ice cream too?"

"Sure," she said. "What kind do you have?"

"Plenty," he responded. "Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cotton candy, bubblegum, rainbow sherbet, rocky road, pistachio, cookies 'n' crème, cookie dough, waffle cone, coconut, and…" Brock's eyebrows furrowed together and he started to count the ice creams off in his head. "Oh! And then there's this new cherry flavor."

"I'll try the cherry ice cream," Misty decided after a while.

"How many scoops?"

"Psst. I would go with three," Ash whispered. Misty narrowed her eyes at the messy-haired man who already had pink ice cream dribbling down his chin. Misty shook her head and sighed.

"One scoop, please."

"Okay fine, don't listen to me," Ash grumbled, going back to licking his ice cream.

"Waffle cone or sugar cone?"

"Sugar cone," Misty decided.

"Alrighty then," Brock said as he opened the freezer that contained large tubs of ice cream and pulled out the tub labeled "Cherry". "By the way Ash, I can't let you get a new three-scooped ice cream every time you drop yours," the breeder announced as he made Misty's ice cream. "All this has to last until the end of the summer."

"Well, alright," Ash sighed.

"Whip cream? Chocolate sprinkles?" Brock offered Misty. The carrot top smiled.

"Yes, please."

Ash stared at Misty's ice cream, suddenly wondering what that new cherry flavor tasted like.

"Hey Misty, you should let me have a bite of that," he said, taking a bite of his own ice cream. His face scrunched up suddenly. "_Oh god, brain freeze!__"_

"No way, you pig, you already have three scoops of ice cream right in front of you," she retorted, snorting.

"Aww, c'mon, Misty, just one bite?" He then proceeded to give her the best puppy dog look he could. "I've never tried that flavor before."

"So? You can try it tomorrow," she responded as she licked her ice cream.

"Please, Mist? Pleeeaaaase?"

Finally, Misty sighed. "Are you sick?"

"No."

"Do you have mononucleosis?"

"What?"

"Mono," Misty repeated. "It's a kissing disease."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What does kissing have to do with ice cream?"

"It spreads through saliva, idiot," she responded. "So do you have mono?"

Ash looked thoughtful for a moment. "Uh…no?"

"Do you have any HIVs?"

"No."

"You better not, Ketchum," she grumbled, about to hand over her ice cream. "You know, you don't even know whether or not I have HIVs or mono or anything similar, and yet you're willing to lick my ice cream which has my saliva all over it."

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds kind of disgusting," Ash told her. "Well, at least I can't see the saliva."

Brock stood off to the side, a hand on his chin, as he observed the conversation.

"You're missing the point, Ash."

"What point?"

"I could be giving you HIVs by letting you lick my ice cream and you wouldn't even care."

"But you're not," Ash said, smiling.

"And how would you know that, exactly?" she queried.

"Do you have HIVs?" he asked.

"No."

"Exactly."

"Idiot," Misty grumbled, finally handing him her ice cream over. "Whatever, HIVs aren't transmitted by saliva anyway, thankfully. And don't eat all of it, you pig."

"If HIVs aren't transmitted by saliva, like mono, then how are they transmitted?" Ash questioned, frowning.

Violet and Lily both walked in just in time to witness the act of Misty handing her ice cream over to Ash. Lily gasped, her hands going to her face. Violet gasped also, and pointed a hand at Ash.

"That's Misty's ice cream!" she exclaimed.

Ash blinked, confused, and Misty felt her cheeks flush red. "So?" he asked, oblivious.

"Like, by eating her ice cream, you're practically kissing Misty!" Lily responded back dramatically. She then turned towards Misty, a small smirk on her face. "So you finally decided to make a move, Misty?"

"What? No! O-of course not!" Misty stammered, blushing furiously now, in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Then why is he kissing your ice cream?" Violet asked.

Ash leaned in close to Misty, his mouth so close to her ear she could feel his hot breath on her skin. "Your sisters are weird."

Misty couldn't respond.

"Well, how are you lovely ladies doing today?" Brock asked, hearts replacing his slanted eyes. "Would you like some ice cream? We got plenty of flavors! We've got chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, cookies 'n' crème, cookie dough, pistachio—"

"Oooh, I would like cookie dough!" Lily chirped.

"Do you have like, rainbow sherbet?" Violet questioned.

"Of course," Brock responded, sighing in a love sick way. "Waffle cone or sugar cone?"

"Sugar cone," both girls responded at the same time.

"So beautiful…" Brock sighed, nearly drooling on the ice cream he was scooping. Misty cringed her nose, feeling sorry for him.

Ash just frowned at his spiky-haired friend and shook his head.

Ah, what love does to people. He could never understand it.

* * *

Kenny yawned as he watched the bright-haired tomboy pace in front of him while reciting an entry from one of the books Daisy had given them to study – Everything You Need to Know about Bird Calling and Our Feathered Friends.

_Boooring! _Kenny thought, stifling another yawn.

He squinted as the sun burned down on him, its bright rays blinding him.

"Kenny, are you listening to me?"

Suddenly Zoey's face came into his view, thankfully acting as a temporary canopy for him, blocking the sun's rays and hopefully delaying the sun burn that was inevitably forming on his nose. He touched his nose and winced. Nope, he was already sunburned.

"Of course I am…" he mumbled. He was lying on the forest ground, in a pile of grass and dried weeds, waiting for the day to just get over with.

Zoey's bright red eyes narrowed. Kenny smiled as he found himself thinking of Dawn's eyes, so blue, always shining with some emotion. Zoey's short pixie cut blew gently in the breeze, making Kenny also think of Dawn and her long blue tresses.

Hmmm, they look nothing alike_, _he realized, not for the first time.

"Then what did I just say?" she asked him, her hands on her hips. This made an image of Dawn with her hands on her hips come to mind. Kenny shook his head, forcing the image of the blue-haired beauty out of his mind.

"Ummm, something about pidgey's feet looking like…um…" he scratched his head, trying to remember what she had said. "Um, I forgot."

"Kenny, you have to learn at least some of this before camp starts next week," Zoey told him sternly, crossing her arms. "So please get your head out of the clouds and try to concentrate."

Kenny sighed dramatically as she started to pace again and placed his arm over his closed eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he would probably also be sunburned on his arm before the day was over with. Man, he was going to be a lobster by the end of the day at this rate.

"Kenny, unless you want to get sunburned, move someplace where there is shade," Zoey told him, sighing.

"Mmmphurmm…" he mumbled.

Zoey scowled at him. "Kenny."

Man, she is bossy, Kenny thought.

"Kenny."

She's even bossier than Dawn. Again, thoughts of Dawn bombarded his mind.

"Kenny!"

"Fine, I'll move!" he sighed. At the sight of Kenny's red face, which was already starting to peel where he was sunburned, Zoey sighed too.

"As I was saying earlier," Zoey started. "A pidgey's footprint somewhat resembles a heart and…" Her voice faded as Kenny zoned off, although his eyes continued to follow every movement the tomboy made.

They even dress different, he found himself thinking.

While Zoey was wearing a pair of tight dark blue skinny jeans, brown knee-high boots, and a long-sleeved white t-shirt with her usual sunglasses and gold diamond-shaped necklace, Kenny clearly remembered seeing Dawn leave with Paul in shorts, layered tank tops, and her usual beanie.

"You have the attention span of a child, you know that Solomon?"

"What? Why did you call me by last name?" he asked. She was looming over him again, her arms folded across her chest, and she had a disapproving look on her face. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Get up," she ordered.

"I just got comfortable though," he protested.

"Kenny."

"Okay, if you _insist_," he sighed and rolled his eyes. He got up and stretched his aching back which made a cracking a sound as he did. "So," he asked, his voice slightly more cheerful. "What are we doing?"

"We're tracking pokémon feet," she announced. She stopped a few feet away and stooped downward. She beckoned him to come forward. Kenny stooped forward too, finding himself face-to-face with tiny heart-like tracks.

"Pidgey tracks?" he guessed.

"Good, so you were paying attention to some of the stuff I said," she said. Kenny grinned, feeling proud of himself. "How about these?" she pointed to a track of long, slender footprints mixed with smaller tinier paw prints.

"Hmmm…" Kenny tapped his chin, his eyes narrowing to slits as he scrutinized the footprints. "Hmmm…" Zoey waited, a bored look already plastered on her face. "This pokémon obviously runs on four paws," Kenny concluded. "So it must be a… a…" Zoey waited. "A teddiursa!"

"Teddiursa doesn't run on four legs," she sighed.

"What? Are you positive? I could have sworn I saw a teddiursa walking around on four legs!"

"They don't. Besides, their footprints don't look like that. Their footprints are bigger and rounder, plus they have claws." Zoey stated.

"I'll keep that in mind next time," Kenny promised.

"Those tracks were made by a Pikachu," she informed him.

"Pikachu, eh?" Kenny murmured, trying to commit the tracks to memory. "Hmmmm. Ash's Pikachu could find a girlfriend here."

"You're such a dork, Kenny…"

The brunette just grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment!"

* * *

At around six-thirty the girls gathered in the cafeteria at one of the tables in the back.

"Man, I am beat!" May cried, exasperated, as she laid her head on the table. "Grrr… stupid Arts and Crafts… stupid Drew and his know-it-all attitude and his stupid pottery skills…ugh."

"I take it you didn't enjoy your day?" Dawn inquired. May sighed and nodded. "Hey, at least you're not stuck with somebody who doesn't even wanna be here," she said. "Or have to hike twenty miles a day… Or hike twenty miles a day with someone who doesn't even wanna be a counselor here…"

"Why is Paul even here then?" Zoey asked, taking a bite out of the potato she was eating.

Dawn shrugged. "Beats me. Not like he's going to tell me why," she muttered. "He doesn't even like me." She sighed, stabbing her fork into a piece of lettuce before shoving it in her mouth.

"Either that, or he's really good at hiding it," Zoey said. "Unlike some boys."  
Her eyes narrowed as said boy walked by and waved enthusiastically at Dawn.

"Yeah, whatever…"

"That boy has the attention span of a child. He is practically impossible to teach," Zoey said. "He zones off every thirty seconds."

"So I take it nobody enjoyed their day?" Misty asked, frowning.

"No," May muttered.

"Not really," Zoey said.

"Definitely not my best," Dawn responded. "How about your day though, Misty? Did you and Ash have fun?"

"It was nice," she replied. "Relaxing. Definitely more relaxing than working at the gym all day. I may have to worry about having mono now though."

"Mono?" Zoey quirked an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a kissing disease?" May asked, surprised.

"Yeah, kind of. It spreads through saliva," Misty informed her. "But don't worry I don't think Ash has mono."

This statement was received with blanked stares and open mouths.

Misty blushed, realizing what she just implied. "And no, Ash and I did NOT kiss. It's a dumb story…"

"A dumb story I would like to hear after we all take long showers," Dawn said, grinning. "By the way, I call the showers first!"

* * *

It was around two in the morning when Dawn woke up from a strange dream that she forgot immediately afterwards. She looked around the room, a strange feeling of being watched settling over her.

No one was there, and everyone was asleep.

It's just my imagination, she told herself.

Pulling her covers over her head and bringing her knees to her chest, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep once more.

* * *

Dawn felt Paul's scrutinizing eyes on her as she approached him early that morning.

"I'm glad to see you actually dressed appropriately for the mountains today," he said. Dawn knew the comment was probably more of an insult than a compliment, but she smiled nonetheless.

Being the perky, optimistic kind of girl she was, she was determined to have a good time this summer, even if she did have to spend it with a jerk that neither liked her nor wanted to be at Camp Scarlet.

"Yes, I did. I decided I didn't want to freeze again," she responded cheerfully.

Paul gave her a look and asked, "What's in the tote bag?"

"A sketchpad and pencil, so we can sketch out the trails we found yesterday that we deemed 'good enough'," she responded. "Oh, and a camera. I want to get a few pictures of some things we saw yesterday."

"Hn."

"Like the ocean," she continued, keeping pace with him in the black converse star sneakers she was wearing. "Oh, and that butt-rock we saw yesterday on that cactus trail. I also wouldn't mind getting a picture of that rock we saw shaped like a giant slowpoke over by that one cliff—"

"You certainly are chatty today," he commented quietly.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," she responded easily.

Paul chose not to say anything to this. He spotted the sign that identified the forest as Verdant Forest and guessed they still had an estimated fifteen minute walk left before they came to the mountains.

And then eight more hours of hiking and charting trails with a chatty blunette right behind him.

Inwardly, Paul groaned.

It was going to be a long summer.

* * *

Kenny was (surprisingly) looking through Tracks and Facts about the Pokémon Found in Verdant Forest and Leviathan Mountain, one of the books given to him and Zoey to read by Daisy, when he came across an interesting entry.

"Hey, Zoey, look at this!" Kenny exclaimed from his seat underneath the evergreen tree.

Zoey narrowed her eyes at Kenny, and said, "Are you going to show me another funny looking pokémon dropping, Kenny?"

"Pffft, no," he scoffed while inwardly giggling. Heh. He could not get over the fact that the book actually showed real photos of pokémon droppings! He would have loved to tell the author of that book (P.P. Herman – even the author's _name_ was funny!) that he was including a little too much information with the pokémon feces.

Zoey sighed and got up to see what Kenny had found this time.

"'Mysterious paw print found in both Leviathan Mountain and Verdant Forest. The paw print found does not belong to any pokémon documented in Kanto or any other region. The footprint measures about twenty-five inches in length and ten inches in width. The pokémon also has noticeable claws that measures about five inches in length.'"

Zoey blinked, shocked.

"Great, huh? Apparently there's some mysterious pokémon roaming around here! Do you know how great would it be if I was to catch that pokémon? Man, I would be a legend!"

"Kenny, this pokémon has a footprint that is about _twenty-five inches_ in length."

"So?"

"That's over two feet. Do you have any idea how big that is?"

Kenny blinked and realization dawned on his face.

"Now imagine how big that pokémon must be," she told him.

Kenny's eyebrows furrowed together as he imagined the pokémon. "Maybe it's a big foot pokémon?"

Zoey quirked an eyebrow. "Big foot pokémon?"

Kenny grinned. "You know, big feet, little pokémon?"

Zoey blinked as an image of a small, furry ape-like pokémon with gigantic feet filled her mind. "You have thought of everything, haven't you?" she asked as she shook her head.

Kenny's grin only broadened. "Hey, it's not too farfetched!"

"Thinking of farfetch'd, we should go look at some pokémon trackings," Zoey decided, already heading farther into the forest.

"I agree!" Kenny exclaimed, something which surprised Zoey. "Wanna know what we should do? We should go into the mountains and see if we can find any more of those big foot tracks!"

"And what if we do find some 'big foot tracks'?" Zoey asked, crossing her arms.

"We'll follow them!" he responded, grinning. "C'mon, Zoey! It'll be fun! Where's your sense of adventure?"

"At home," she responded, sighing. "Okay, fine. We'll go see if we can find some of those big foot tracks. _But_, we'll also be studying other tracks we see too, got it?"

"Got it!" he agreed.

"Okay, now let's get a move on before it gets too late. Oh, and don't forget your basket," she reminded him. "Unless you want the pidgeys and rattatas to get into it."

"Of course not. They have their own food out here. We, however, do not," Kenny responded, grabbing the basket with their lunch in it and swung it as he walked. "Thinking of that, when's lunchtime?"

"When it's twelve."

"When is it twelve?"

"When it's twelve."

"Well, that's no answer!" Kenny said. "Don't you know what time is it?"

"Actually, I do."

"Really? What time is it then?" he questioned eagerly.

"Time to get a watch," she responded coolly back.

"Well!" Kenny gasped. Zoey smiled to herself. "Since you won't share the time with me, I guess I'll just have to—hey, isn't that Dawn and Paul?"

Zoey looked up to see—yes, indeed—Dawn and Paul. Dawn spotted her just as she looked up, and her smile widened as she waved at them and ran down the rest of the trail to greet them.

"Hey! What are you two doing over here?" she asked, still smiling.

"We're going big foot hunting!" Kenny boasted, puffing out his chest and pounding his fist against it. Just then Paul appeared beside Dawn, appearing more than aggravated.

I wonder how their hike is going, Zoey wondered suddenly, amused considering Dawn was smiling and Paul was scowling.

"Big foot hunting?" Dawn questioned. She turned to Zoey, frowning, but the tomboy just rolled he eyes and mouthed 'just go with it'.

"Yeah! Like check it out," he said, opening his tracks and facts book and flipping to the big foot page he had bookmarked with a cool looking leaf he had found lying on the ground.

Dawn stared at the footprint, in a mixture of confusion and awe. "That's a real pokémon footprint?" she asked, turning to him.

"Yup! Pretty cool, huh?"

"And this…_pokémon_ is found in Leviathan Mountain?"

"_And _Verdant Forest," Kenny confirmed. "But mostly Leviathan Mountain."

Dawn bit her thumb and turned towards Paul, suddenly glad the strong trainer was her counseling partner.

"Scared, DeeDee?" Kenny asked, grinning.

"Scared?" she repeated, smiling nervously. "Well, maybe just a little… and don't call me DeeDee!"

"Whatever you say… _DeeDee_." He smirked as he saw the vein pop in her head. Man, he loved aggravating her! She was so cute when she got that devilish look on her face…

Zoey rolled her eyes as Kenny continued to flirt with Dawn and turned her attention to Paul who looked as if he had just noticed Kenny's quite obvious feelings for the blunette.

"Come on," he said gruffly, stepping between the two, and possibly saving Kenny from getting his face kicked in by Dawn. "We have more trails to chart and even more to find." He ignored the disappointed look Kenny shot him and turned to Dawn, his face stony as he waited for her to say her goodbyes.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at dinner, Zoey," she said, sighing. "And Kenny… I'll see you whenever, I guess. See ya."

"Yeah, bye," Kenny muttered glumly.

Again, Zoey rolled her eyes. Man, her eyes were starting to hurt from doing that.

"Come on, let's go scouting for that big foot," she told him and smiled, an attempt to cheer him up.

For the moment it worked, and Kenny was grinning again, albeit forced.

* * *

Dawn and Paul walked on in silence for about fifteen minutes, stopping every once in a while so Dawn could sketch down some quick characteristic to go with the trail they were charting.

After jotting down a doodle of the same butt-shaped rock she had seen yesterday and labeling the trail "Butt-Rock Trail", she tentatively asked Paul, "What would you do if we came across that one pokémon with the giant foot Kenny showed us in his book?"

"Feed you to it," he responded calmly.

Dawn stopped dead in her tracks, shocked, before glaring at him and placing her hands on her hips.

"No you wouldn't! That would be such a jerk thing to do!"

Paul just shrugged as he turned towards her. "I would probably battle it. What else would you expect me to do? Invite it to have a tea party with me and Torterra?" He scoffed at this last part, scowling.

"Well, no…" she admitted. "It must be pretty huge though if it has a footprint that's over two feet long."

"Which is even better," he responded gruffly, starting to walk again. "Just as long as it's as powerful as it is huge."

"But what if it's too powerful?" she asked, softly, her eyes on the ground. "What if it's too powerful, even for you?"

Paul was silent for a moment as he contemplated the question. "Then I would run."

"What if I was there too when you came across the pokémon?"

"If your pokémon and my pokémon couldn't take it down together, then you would have to run, too," he responded. "Unless the pokémon is actually nice enough to let trainers that were attacking it pass by and get away safely and calmly."

Dawn remained silent, contemplating this. Paul stopped suddenly and turned around, an eyebrow raised in questioning.

"What's with you?"

Dawn looked up, startled, and an embarrassed blush crept across her cheeks. "Nothing! I… I was just wondering, that's all."

Paul was silent as he watched her, before saying, softly, "If you're wondering if I would just ditch you and leave you to get torn up by the pokémon, I wouldn't."

Although it wasn't an everyday event, pokémon mauling weren't exactly uncommon.

"Oh." Dawn's blush deepened, and she was embarrassed that he had read her so easily; however, she was now also ashamed for thinking he would even do such a thing. He wasn't the friendliest or nicest person around by far, but that didn't mean he was heartless. "Thank you."

"Hn."

In silence they continued up the trail that was leading higher and higher up into the mountain. Dawn's breaths started to become quicker as the air got shallower, but her white sweatshirt with the piplup on the front and the light-washed jeans she wore kept her warm as the temperature dropped.

Meanwhile, Dawn racked her brain for something to say, something that would break the silence and help her ignore the eerie feeling that had crept over her the moment she saw the giant footprint of that unidentified pokémon.

"Sooo…" she started. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why are you at Camp Scarlet when you don't want to be here?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he responded sharply back.

Touché, Dawn thought, sweat dropping.

"Oh. Well, um, okay then. So… um… have you battled Ash lately?"

"Hn."

Was that a yes or a no?

Sigh. Her topics were going nowhere.

"So are you and Kenny friends now or…?" she trailed off, realizing she just sounded like a talkative idiot at the moment.

"That depends on what you define a 'friend' as," he responded.

"Um…I dunno. Do you two talk, hang out?"

"We had to be in the same car together on the way here. Does that count as hanging out?" Not really, she thought. "He also talks to me about you sometimes," he added.

"W-wait, he talks about me?" _To __**you**__,_ she added in her mind, the part she had found most shocking. For some reason she started blushing again.

"It's really not that surprising. He obviously has feelings for you." He turned around then, and he smirked as he saw her red face. "And it looks as if that feeling is mutual."

"Wh-wha…? I-I don't like Kenny like that! He's just a friend, really!" His smirk grew bigger and Dawn felt her cheeks become warmer. Stupid, unconvincing stutter! She thought, scowling. "Quit smirking! I'm not blushing because I like him! Honestly! And Kenny doesn't like me like that either!"

Paul's smirk disappeared. "He does like you. A blind person could see that."

Dawn's blushed deepened and at that moment she wanted to kick herself for bringing Kenny into the conversation. She should have known Paul would have guessed Kenny's feelings for her!

"Well… just… just never mind," she grumbled and walked pass him, focusing her attention on the ground and not the dark eyes trained to her.

* * *

Misty watched the sun sink deeper and deeper into the sky, the sky gradually darkening as it sunk behind the forest. She shivered as a cold breeze blew from across the lake.

"Hey, Mist."

The carrot top turned on her side to see Ash in a light gray sweatshirt and blue boardshorts, smiling as he approached her.

"Hey," she said softly, sitting up and hugging her knees close to her chest. "What have you been up to all day?"

"Just training," he responded. "How about you?"

"Relaxing. You know, tanning, swimming, all that good stuff."

"You've been tanning all day, yet you're still as pale as you were before." He grinned as she smacked him, a pout forming on her lips.

"Shut up, Ketchum." Ash laughed. Misty blushed and turned stubbornly away. "Jerk."

"C'mon, Misty, let's go exploring."

"Exploring? Ash it's almost dinnertime. What is it, nearly six?"

"C'mon Misty, please? We have plenty of time," he said.

"Pika!"

"See, even pikachu agrees!"

Misty glanced at the sinking sun and frowned. "Well…"

"C'mon Misty, please? Pleeeaaase?"

"Piiiiiika?"

"Fine," she sighed. "But first let me go to my cabin so I can get dressed and put on a sweat jacket or something warm."

"Okay," he agreed. "Here, me and pikachu will even walk you."

"Alright, but you're not coming in with me when I get dressed."

"Ew, of course not!" Ash made a face and Misty smacked him.

Five minutes later they arrived at Misty's cabin. Another five minutes later and Misty emerged fully dressed in jeans and a white sweatshirt with the words Cerulean Gym scrawled across the top with a picture of the cascade badge right below it. In her hands she held two flashlights, one which she gave to Ash. Another ten minutes passed before they made it to the part of Verdant Forest on the other side of the camp by the lake.

"Dang, it got dark all of a sudden," Ash commented quietly.

"Pika…"

"Yeah…" Misty agreed, turning on her flashlight. She shrieked as the light startled a nearby murkrow which shrieked noisily as it flew away.

"Damn!" Ash exclaimed, sweat dropping. "That pokémon sure knows how to make an exit!"

Misty's only response was another blood-curdling shriek as a caterpie fell out of a nearby tree followed by three more caterpies.

"Holy crap, Misty! Are you going to scream at everything that drops out a tree?" Ash asked, scowling.

"If it's always going to be a bug pokémon and it drops out of nowhere, then YES I'm going to scream at everything that drops out a tree!" she shrieked back, hiding behind Ash. "Oh my gosh… it's so creepy!"

Ash rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Misty. It's just a caterpie! I had one when we travelling together, remember? It was before it evolved into a metapod and then a pretty little butterfree, remember? C'mon, Misty, don't be scared of a little baby butterfree…"

"That thing is _not_ a butterfree!" Misty muttered. Reluctantly she stepped out from behind Ash and cringed at the sight of the mini caterpie family.

Well, she supposed they weren't so bad. At least they weren't pinsirs…

Together they walked on in silence with Ash in the lead, while Misty's eyes darted around nervously at the sound of any rustle. There was something really creepy about this forest at night….

"Wait, Misty!"

The carrot top stopped as Ash's arm shot out in front of her.

"What? What is it?" she asked, peering over his shoulders. Ash stooped down on one knee and Misty frowned as she saw the large chunk of a grayish rock Ash was now studying.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, frowning.

"Is that a tombstone?" she asked, surprised.

"Looks like it," he responded. He picked it up with both hands and stood up. "Or part of one, at least."

"Is that writing on it?" Looking closer, she saw it was.

May 12th, 1796 to December 18th, 1813.

Ash blinked. "This person was only seventeen when they died."

"They must have died during the time of the Great Winter…" Misty murmured quietly.

"Great what?"

"Winter," she clarified. "From what I heard of this place, a bunch of travelers came to this place in the early 1800s and had just finished building all the cabins and everything when there was a huge snowstorm and everything froze over. I heard everybody, or nearly everybody, died from it."

"Oh wow…" Ash murmured. He placed the piece of the tombstone back where he found it. "You don't think the graveyard's over here, do you?" he questioned, looking around.

"It could be," she responded. Suddenly she grabbed onto Ash's arm, an uneasy feeling coming over her. "Come on Ash, let's go back… It's dark out and it's getting really late…"

"Just one moment," he said.

"Ash…"

"I just want to see if I can find any other tombstones or tombstone pieces," he told her. "Just five more minutes, I promise."

"Alright," she sighed. She was about to follow Ash when she heard a very loud crunch from nearby. "Oh my god, did you just hear that Ash?!" she whispered loudly, her eyes wide in fright.

"Relax, it's probably just a pokémon," Ash whispered back. When she looked back at him though she saw he also looked frightened. Misty backed up and grabbed Ash's arm again. She had one hand on a poké ball, although honestly she wasn't even sure if any of her pokémon would be able to fight the oncoming pokémon since they either needed water to fight, were still a baby, or was Psyduck.

Wait, she still had Politoed; he didn't need to be in water to fight.

"Hello?"

Misty relaxed as she heard Kenny's familiar voice.

"Oh my freaking gosh, you two almost gave me a heart attack!" Misty declared as Zoey and Kenny came into view.

"Sorry," Zoey apologized. "We didn't know you two were out here."

"What _are_ you two doing out here?" Kenny asked, suspicious.

"Just exploring. How about you two?" Ash asked.

"Tracking footprints, what else?" Kenny sighed as he folded his arms. "Man, there are so many pikachus, nidorans and pidgeys in this dang forest!" Besides him Zoey just smirked.

"So, have you found anything interesting?" Kenny asked. "Anything more interesting than pikachu paw prints anyway?" From on top of Ash's shoulder, Pikachu glared. Kenny sweat dropped. "Um, no offense Pikachu?"

"Pika chu chu!"

"Well, we did find a piece of a tombstone around here someplace," he responded, grinning. "Right, Misty? It was from the 1800s."

"Really? That's pretty old," Zoey commented. "Didn't your sister mention on the ride up here something about pioneers coming here in the 1800s, Misty?"

She nodded. "Yeah. They all died in a snowstorm though."

"No wonder why this place feels so creepy…" Kenny muttered. "No offense to any of the dead around here," he grumbled after a jab in the chest from Zoey.

"Ignore him," Zoey said.

"Will do. So hey, are you two heading back to camp?" Misty asked. They nodded. "Great! So were we!"

"Actually—"

"Come on, Ash, let's go!" Misty chirped, pulling him along.

"But wait, what about—"

"I wonder what Brock's making for dinner? I bet it's something good like always. Like maybe he's cooking some cheeseburgers or meat loaf. Maybe a casserole."

Ash sighed, defeated.

* * *

**So, predictions? Also, just out of curiosity, which scenes were your favorites? The Ikarishipping scenes, the Pokéshipping scenes, the Contestshipping scenes, or the Shootsdownshipping scenes? I tried to make each one different and unique from each other.**

**Please leave a review, and thanks to everyone who have already reviewed! Lemme know if you see any mistakes that need fixed! (Unfortunately I am not the sharpest at catching mistakes and I've noticed I tend to forget little words like ****'****a****'**** and ****'****the****'…)**

**Next Chapter: Welcome to Camp Scarlet!**


	4. Welcome to Camp Scarlet!

**Horrors of Camping**

_.x._

_CHAPTER FOUR  
Welcome to Camp Scarlet!_

_.x._

About a week after the girls first arrived everybody was gathered outside in front of the cafeteria, most still stretching and yawning as they waited for Daisy.

It was the big day, the day the kids arrived and they would officially be made counselors/activity directors.

Dawn, for one, was absolutely excited.

After a few minutes Daisy finally arrived, Tracy towing a wagon behind her.

"Good morning!" the blonde chirped cheerfully, smiling brightly. "Now today's the big day! The camp will officially be opened today! But first, we have to get ready."

"I thought that is what we have been doing for the past week…" Kenny grumbled, his arms folded across his chest.

Ignoring Kenny's negative comment, Daisy continued, "First, your accessories!"

"Oooh, I wonder what we get?" Dawn wondered to herself, nearly jumping up and down in excitement. "I wonder if we will get a cool shirt like the counselors in my girl scout did?"

"Maybe if you be quiet you'll find out," Paul grumbled, scowling. Dawn stuck her tongue out at him. Geez, what was with the guys and their negativity today?

"Now everybody here gets their very own Camp Scarlet Counselor Sweatshirt!"

Daisy grinned as she held up a bright red sweatshirt with a very detailed picture of a dark night sky with a blood-red moon and a blue lake with the red moon reflected in it, evergreen trees and cabins present in the distance. In white, just above the picture it said in big print _Camp Scarlet_ while below the picture it said in smaller white letters _The most haunting camp out there!_.

That's even better than a shirt! Dawn thought, nearly squealing in excitement. Although the motto _is_ kind of cheesy…

"That sweatshirt does not go with my hair…" Zoey muttered under her breath. Dawn looked at Zoey, surprised, before she smiled, a small giggle escaping her lips.

That was the most girlish thing she had ever heard the tomboy say.

"It goes just fine with your hair," Dawn told her, smiling. Zoey just shook her head, sighing.

"Next, everybody will get their own whistle!" Daisy announced next, holding up a whistle. "Everybody must wear this whistle everywhere and at all times, unless you're one, swimming, two, sleeping, or three, showering. No other exceptions. This is necessary so if anybody gets lost or hurt, you can blow for help and we'll hear you.

"This next one is only for my lifeguards," the blonde said next, holding up a red sweatshirt with a white medicinal cross on it and the words Camp Scarlet Lifeguard written in big letters above it.

Ash excitedly jabbed Misty in the ribs. "That's us!"

"I already gave you your first aid kits, correct?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah, you have," Misty responded, glaring at Ash as he jabbed her once again in the ribs.

"Excellent. This next one is for the Arts and Crafts directors only. It's so you don't get your clothes messy or stained," Daisy explained, holding up a pine green apron.

"Oh, goodie!" May chirped from besides Dawn. "I was worried about that."

"And lastly, you will all be getting nametags," she said, holding up her own nametag, a pale red moon with her name scripted neatly in the center, clipped to a black thread.

"Oh, that is so cool!" Dawn declared. "That is so much cooler than the nametags the counselors got at Girl Scout Camp!"

Drew quirked his eyebrow. "You were a girl scout?" he asked, cocking his head to look at her.

Dawn nodded, smiling. "Yeah, when I was younger! I got all the way to a Junior, but then I had to quit…"

"That's too bad," Drew said, smiling at her. Unconsciously, Dawn blushed, remembering all the days she had seen the chartreuse-haired boy on TV, winning contests with his dazzling appeals and creative combos. "Why did you have to quit?"

Dawn shrugged. "I wanted to travel and become a coordinator. I couldn't be a coordinator _and_ a girl scout."

And of course, Kenny, being the embarrassing friend he was, decided then it was the perfect opportunity to butt in with a story of his own about her.

"You should have seen her during cookie sales, even as a Daisy she would threaten people to buy Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Tagalongs!" Kenny laughed, grinning as Dawn glared at him.

"I did not threaten. Girl scouts do not threaten people," Dawn insisted.

"Whatever you say, DeeDee," Kenny chuckled, still grinning. Pouting, Dawn stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to Drew only to see him smirking at her. Still pouting, she silently threatened Kenny and turned away, glad to see Paul wasn't also smirking at her.

That's one thing I like about him, Dawn decided. He's indifferent to everything about me, so he won't make fun of me.

"Moving on," Daisy said, frowning at Kenny. "The kids will be here at twelve and it is approximately ten right now! While we have time lets go over the schedule for today and then the schedule for the rest of the two months here."

"We're going over the schedule for two months?" May asked, surprised. Inwardly, she groaned. This was going to be a long morning!

"Don't worry," Daisy said, smiling reassuringly. "The schedule isn't all that complicated. You'll see. Plus, I got the schedule all printed!"

Picking up a stack of papers, she handed everyone a copy of their own schedule. Dawn looked over the schedule and saw mostly names and dates.

"If you would look at the top of the first page labeled June 14, you'll see today's schedule. As you can see the kids are set to arrive at twelve and from then lunch will be served until about two. The kids will then be assigned their cabin and will be left to unpack everything up until six. Dawn and Paul, you two will be in charge of assigning kids to their cabin; May and Drew, you two will be in charge of showing kids to their cabin if they get lost. At six we will all walk down to the lake for the campfire where we will have dinner, s'mores and hot chocolate, introductions and rules, and ghost stories up until nine. Brock, you're in charge of cooking, of course; meanwhile, my three lovely sisters will help prepare the campfire. Ash, Kenny, and Zoey, you three will be in charge of cleaning up after the campfire is over.

"For the next sixty or so days, your schedule will be different depending on what your activity is. As you can see, there are exactly forty campers attending this year. These forty campers will be split into five groups. Whoever is in your group one you will have tomorrow, AKA Day One, and on day two you will have group two, day three you will have group three, and so on. Is anybody still confused?"

Everybody was quiet.

"Good. Now, these five groups will rotate. Every once in a while though we will have a 'free day' which is a day where you have none of these groups and you are welcomed to do whatever you pleased."

Paul looked pleased as she said this and Dawn's eyes got dreamy as she imagined nice relaxing days at the beach.

"The next day you will have whatever group comes after the group you had before the free day. Any questions?"

Kenny raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Okay, this is not really related to the topic we're on, but when will the moon turn red? Because I heard the moon is supposed to turn red every ten days, and I've been here for about six days already and the moon hasn't turned red yet so…"

Daisy smiled. "Like, I'm not positive, but I believe it's supposed to turn red either tomorrow or the day after. Any other questions, preferably ones having to do with the schedule?"

Dawn raised her hand next.

"Yes?"

"Okay, so we have just one group for _one whole day?_"

"Like, don't worry about that. If you look at the schedule, you'll see that the activities don't even start until after lunch which is eleven-thirty to twelve-thirty, and then the activities end at approximately seven, or for Ash and Misty, as soon as the sun goes down."

"Oh, okay." That's better, she thought. "So what do we do before then?"

"That's up to you. Just keep an eye on the campers, make sure they don't get too out of hand or try to wander off into the forest."

"Okay, got it!"

"Any other questions?"

"No, that's all. Thank you."

"No problem!" the blonde chirped. "Anyone else have questions?"

Taking the silence as a cue to continue, she said, "Well, that's it I believe. I'll now hand out the sweatshirts, whistles, nametags and whatever else to everyone." With that said, Daisy called out the first name on the list.

Dawn was smiling broadly as she was handed her official Camp Scarlet counselor sweatshirt, nametag, and whistle.

* * *

At noon the kids arrived, piled into two buses.

"Welcome to Camp Scarlet!" Daisy called, smiling broadly.

It was what Dawn could only describe as utter chaos as kids pushed and shoved each other to get off the bus, their faces red and sweaty as they fought each other to receive their bags and then rushed at full-speed to the cafeteria.

She sweatdropped as she watched two boys get into a hair tugging war, only to get kicked in the shin when she tried to pull them off each other.

"YOU LOUSY, NO-GOOD PUNK!"

* * *

On schedule, it was about two o'clock when Dawn and Paul were handed a list with the names of the campers and what cabin they would be staying in. Girls waited in Dawn's line, the blunette still being in a sour mood due to her throbbing shin, while boys lined up and waited for Paul to reveal to them what cabin they would be staying in.

"Name?" she asked an adorable girl around the age of six with pink pigtails and violet eyes.

"Nova Novella," she responded, smiling.

"No-va No-vell-a, hm? That's a very pretty name," Dawn told her, smiling. "You're in Cabin Two."

"Thank you, miss! I think you're very pretty yourself! Is Dawn your name?" she asked, pointing to the moon-shaped nametag on her sweatshirt. "That's a pretty name!"

Dawn's smile widened, charmed. "Thank you, Nova. And yes, my name is Dawn."

"Nice to meet you!" she exclaimed, sticking her hand out. Dawn shook it, already deciding Nova was her favorite camper. "Bye bye Dawn!"

Dawn waved, and was about to turn to the next camper, a girl around the age of eleven with long green hair and chocolate-colored eyes who was wearing an impatient expression, when she felt a pair of eyes on her. Turning, she saw Paul was staring at her.

She was about to ask him how he was doing and everything when a boy around the age of eleven marched up to her.

"Hey hot stuff," he greeted, smiling flirtatiously. "What's cooking?"

Dawn blinked, at first shocked by the boy's flirtation. Then she glared at him, recognizing him as the punk who had kicked her in the shin.

"I hope you're here to apologize about kicking me earlier," she said, placing her hands on her hips and giving him a death glare.

"Oh. That was you?" he said, disinterested. "Well, how about I make it up to you with dinner? Me and you, dinner, tonight, six o'clock."

Dawn raised an eyebrow, amazed at the kid's boldness.

"Isn't she a little too old for you?" Paul asked from his spot about two feet away.

The boy turned to him, shocked, before glaring at him. "No! She's like the perfect age for me! Who are you anyway, _her boyfriend?_" he sneered.

Dawn would have answered that for him, but she decided she would much rather watch Paul beat up the cocky boy instead.

"Do I look like her boyfriend?" Paul asked, scowling. Before the boy could respond, he said, "No, I am not."

"Well, then butt out!"

Dawn glanced up to see the death glare Paul was giving him, and she couldn't help but giggle.

"Now, where were we before _purple-butt_ interrupted?" he asked, turning his glare briefly on Paul.

"Purple-butt?" she repeated, amused. Hey, he was only a kid, she reminded herself.

"I would think twice about who you call names," Paul warned.

"Or else what?" the boy demanded, glaring at him.

Paul smirked and grabbed his poké ball, enlarging it. "Or else you will be the one with the _purple butt_."

The boy's eyes widened and he stumbled back, shocked. "Is that a threat?! Because if it is, I'll have you know—!"

"It's not," Paul said, suddenly serious. His smirk disappeared and he glared threateningly at the boy. "But this is. Go to your cabin and unpack, or you will be doing everything _but_ what you want this summer, got it?"

"You can't do that!" he exclaimed. "My parents paid a lot of money so I could be here! And why should I listen to you anyway?!"

"Because it's called respect," Paul responded coldly and even Dawn shivered at the cold glare Paul gave him just then. "I was taught to respect my elders, and when I was your age that is just what I did. Now you will show some respect and do as I say or the only thing you will do this summer is scrub toilets, whether your parents paid a lot of money for you to be here or not. Got it, Rudy?"

Rudy sighed, defeated and clearly unhappy. "Fine!" he snapped, marching away.

"And don't harass anymore girls on the way there," he called after him. He turned to the next person in his line, still scowling. "Name?"

Dawn turned back to her own line, the green-haired girl now looking attentive and no longer annoyed as she turned towards her. Dawn smiled to herself, suddenly liking Paul a lot more.

"Name?"

"Rosie Bluebell."

"You're in Cabin Four."

Another thing she liked about Paul: he could protect her from all the punkass kids who would try to pick up on her over the summer.

* * *

Dawn shivered as she made her way down to the lake with May and Zoey, dressed in her new sweatshirt and a pair of cut-offs, her damp bangs feeling like ice cubes against her forehead.

When they arrived, Misty and her sisters were there, sitting all nice and warm by the campfire. Not long after, the boys arrived along with Daisy, Tracy, Brock and all forty campers. Kenny plopped immediately next to Dawn while Drew found a seat next to May. Ash and Paul, who were deeply engrossed in some discussion they were having (probably something about pokémon or battles, knowing them) sat on the opposite side of them.

"Like, quiet down everyone! Quiet down! I said _quiet down_!" A scowl graced Daisy's face, a look which looked so out of place.

"SHUT UP!" Misty screamed, effectively shutting up everybody. Misty smiled sweetly. "Thank you!"

"Like, thanks little sis!" Daisy said, smiling again. "First of all, we'll do like, introductions. I am Daisy and I'm Camp Director this year."

It was quiet for a moment, and then "you're pretty". Dawn rolled her eyes, recognizing the voice as belonging to Rudy.

"Why, thank you. Anyways, our next introduction will be our counselors or activity directors, whatever you like, prefer to call them. Would all my counselors stand up, please, and go to the front."

Reluctant to leave the radiating warmth of the campfire, Dawn followed her friends, as well as Lily and Violet, to the front of the campfire where everyone could clearly see them.

"Okay, like, introduce yourselves and what activities you'll be doing," Daisy told them.

"Okay, well, um, we'll go first I guess," Violet drawled, taking a step forward. She gestured for Lily to do the same. "Like, I'm Violet."

"And I'm Lily," the sensational sister said, her pink hair and floral green dress starting to blow in the wind. "And we'll, like, be your Training Directors. That means we'll be supervising all you little kids ten and older with pokémon while you train and battle."

"Like, you know, to make sure you don't lose an eye," Violet joked, smiling as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"And for everyone who is nine and under and doesn't yet have pokémon, we'll be like, teaching you guys. Like, we'll demonstrate how to battle, good techniques to use in a situation, and type advantages and disadvantages."

"Any questions?" Violet asked.

Rudy raised his hand.

"Can I date you?"

Violet blinked, shocked. Dawn rolled her eyes, Zoey shook her head, Misty grumbled to herself, and May giggled.

"Um, like, no?" Violet said, surprised. "I'm not a pedophile."

"How about you?" he asked, turning to Lily.

"Like, no way. You're too young for me!"

Rudy slumped in his seat and grumbled to himself. "That's what everybody says…"

"You know, he actually kind of reminds me of Brock!" Dawn whispered suddenly, her eyes turning to the slanted-eyed breeder. Rudy was like a mini-Brock, a four-foot-eight womanizer with mahogany hair and bright green eyes.

"Moving on…" Daisy said, casting Rudy a curious glance. "Misty, Ash, how about you two go next?"

"Suuuure," Misty mumbled, stepping forward. "I'm Misty."

"And I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash said, smiling brightly. "And this is Pikachu. Say hi, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

"Awww, it's so cute!" One of the girls whispered, giggling. "Hi, Pikachu!"

"Pikaaaa!"

Ash grinned. "Me and Mist are in charge of watching all you guys while you swim to make sure none of you die on our watch."

"That means no horseplaying in the water! And most definitely, absolutely NO pretending to drown just so you can get our attention or get a good laugh! Cuz if you do, trust me, you will regret it!" Misty declared, shooting them all a glare. "I will not have anyone die on my watch, and I most definitely will not tolerate any fake-drownings!"

"She's mean," one of the boys whispered. Misty glared at him.

"Now, now, Misty's not mean… Well, okay, she is, but only sometimes, like when you prank her by putting a caterpie in her sleeping bag, or when you destroy her bike." Ash smiled as he remembered the day he first met Misty.

Misty glared at Ash as he said this, a chill going down her back as she remembered the feel of suction cups on her back. "Anyway… we are also in charge of canoeing and fishing, which we will do _some_ days."

"And that's all pretty much," Ash concluded.

As the two sat back down, Zoey and Kenny started their introduction.

"I'm Kenny."

"And I'm Zoey, and we're your counselors for the Pokémon Tracking and Bird Watching activity. What that means is just what it sounds like. We'll be tracking pokémon by looking for their tracks, and we'll also be watching for birds with binoculars. We'll also be keeping track of what kind of pokémon tracks we find and birds we watch with an observation log. Any questions so far?"

Silence.

"Also, as a side note, if you do have any questions while we're doing the activity, it's probably best if you ask me."

Kenny raised an eyebrow as she said this. "What? They can't ask me too? I know some stuff too, ya know!"

"It was just a suggestion," she responded coolly, sitting back down.

It was silent as the last four counselors (or the female counselors) debated with their eyes over who would go next. Finally, Dawn gave in.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling. "I'm Dawn Berlitz, but you can just call me Dawn."

"Or DeeDee!" Kenny chimed in.

Dawn's eyebrow twitch. "If anybody dares call me DeeDee…" she muttered, trailing off as she glared at Kenny. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath, she recomposed herself.

"I'm Paul," the lavender-haired man said from behind her, as indifferent as ever.

"We're the activity directors for hiking," she told them. "We'll be leading you down all kinds of trails in the mountain and forest. Since we'll be out for hours on a time while we're hiking its best if you bring some small backpack or bag with plenty of water bottles and maybe even some snacks."

A girl in the back raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Won't there be poisonous pokémon in the mountains, like sevipers and arboks? Oh, and ursarings?" The girl, only around the age of eight, questioned, worry present in her brown eyes.

Dawn smiled at the girl. "No need to worry. We'll protect you. I mean, Paul has like crazy-strong pokémon." She nudged him in the shoulder, earning a scowl from the aloof trainer. She ignored the scowl, still smiling brightly. "An ursaring or arbok is nothing your pokémon can't handle, right Paul?"

"Right," he grumbled.

A thick silence suddenly fell over the camp, and Dawn frowned, wondering what was wrong.

"But what if…" a boy began but then stopped, a nervous look crossing his face. "What if… what if you come across the… _monster._"

Dawn was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. This was the first time she had heard anything about a monster since her drive to Camp Scarlet.

"Monsters don't exist," Paul scoffed.

"Well, this one does!" the little boy exclaimed, his eyes wide. "The monster killed Ruby last year!" More voices chimed in, exclaiming their belief in the monster of Camp Scarlet.

"Now, now, let's not get too excited about this," Dawn said, a weird feeling coming over her. Who was this Ruby, and what did they mean she was killed by a monster? "Like Paul said, monsters don't exist." Suddenly Dawn thought of the huge footprint included in Zoey's and Kenny's tracking book. "If anything, this 'monster' is probably nothing more than a pokémon."

"It's not a pokémon!" the same boy as before exclaimed. "It's too big to be a pokémon!"

"So you have seen this pokémon?" Paul asked, obviously unconvinced.

"Well… no…"

"Exactly. Case closed." Before the topic on the existence or nonexistence of a monster could start up again, he continued, "Also about every weekend we will be taking about eight of you on a camping trip in the mountains."

As silence enveloped the campfire once more, Dawn and Paul took their respective seats on opposite sides of the campfire.

Being the only two counselors left to do their introductions, May and Drew stepped forward, May nervously poking her index fingers together.

"Uh… Drew? Care to do the honor?" she asked, sweat dropping and smiling nervously. She could feel forty pairs of eyes on her, judging her, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Max laughing at her. Silently, she huffed.

Know-it-all little creep! She thought.

"I'm Drew Rosalind, but feel free to call me Drew, or Mr. Rosalind, if you really feel like it. I do prefer to be called Drew though," he said, a suave smile forming on his lips.

May watched as some of the older girls started to giggle, their cheeks pink as they whispered to one another. She fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"And this lovely lady here," he started, gesturing to May in her sweatshirt and capris, and she blushed, giving a small smile and wave. "Is May Maple. But you can just call her May, that is, if it's okay with you, May?"

"Of course it is," she said. Why would she not be okay with being called her name?

"We are your Arts and Crafts counselors," Drew continued. "Whenever you have us you'll be doing some craft of some kind or something else artistic, like drawing or painting."

May nodded now, no longer feeling bothered by the eyes trained to her. "We'll be making cute little macaroni pokémon and wallets out of duct tapes and lots of other cute stuff."

Drew narrowed his eyes at May and then turned his eyes back to all the campers, and said, "And we'll also be spinning pottery and painting, and heck, maybe someday we'll even do origami."

"Oh, you even know how to do origami?" she exclaimed, shocked. Crossing her arms, she huffed. "Well, you certainly know how to do everything."

Drew smirked and flipped his hair. The older girls swooned. "What can I say? I'm just talented like that."

May's eyebrow twitched, but she ignored the comment, her smile suddenly strained.

"I think it's so cool how you know how to do origami!" One of the girls with hair a few shades darker than Drew's exclaimed. "You should definitely show us someday!"

"Of course," he said, smiling at the girl.

May had to literally stop herself from mimicking Drew in his stupid I'm-so-cool-I-am-so-talented voice. She almost scoffed as she saw the green-haired girl blush a crimson color, a goofy grin stretching the corner of her lips.

What is with these girls falling for Drew? He is _not_ Prince Charming! No, he is arrogant, May exclaimed in her mind. So, so, SO arrogant! What did I ever see in him anyway?

May already knew the answer to that. The same things she still saw in him.

Daisy came up then, smiling broadly as she clapped her hands together. Once May and Drew were seated and everybody was quieted down again, she moved on to the next topic: the rules.

"Okay, before we all eat dinner, we have to go over the rules. Rule Number One, everybody _must_ have a buddy! There are forty campers, twenty girls and twenty boys, so there is like, _no_ excuse you to not have one. Any questions?"

A girl in the back raised her hand.

"Yeah?"

"Do the counselors have to have buddies too?" she questioned.

"Good question! I'm like glad you bought that up. The answer to that question is yes. Even the counselors need to have a buddy. Their buddies are their counseling partners. So like, Violet and Lily are partners, Misty and Ash, Dawn and Paul, May and Drew, Kenny and Zoey. They're partners."

"What if we're in groups?" a boy near the front called out. "Can we be in groups instead?"

"Only like, if your buddy is with you," she responded. "I cannot stress this enough, you need a buddy and you need to stay with your buddy _at all times_, even if you're in a group. Here, I'll like, give you some examples.

"Example One: Say you want to go down to the lake on a free day. If you go down to the lake, your buddy needs to be with you. And if your buddy doesn't want to go to the lake and you can't like, convince him or her to go, then you can't go either. So I would pick your buddy wisely. Oh, which reminds me, _girls can only have girl buddies, and boys can only have boy buddies!_

"Example Two: Say you're in a group, that's like okay only if your buddy is in the same group as you are. Like, say Lily, Violet, and Misty are in a group. This would _not_ be okay! Ash would have to be with Misty in that group for it to be okay. However, it _would_ be okay if Dawn, May, Paul and Drew were in a group though. That's okay because they would all be with their partners.

"You _need_ to stay with your buddy. I assure you this is for your own safety! Counselors, unfortunately this goes for you guys too. We need to set good examples here; after all, we don't wanna look like hypocrites. Like, I'll have a buddy too," the blonde smiled as she turned to Tracy who smiled back. "Any more questions before we like, move on to the next question?"

"I have a question!" a little girl in the front exclaimed, waving her arm back and forth.

"Yes, dear?"

"What if we hafta go to the bathroom? Or when we take a bath? Do we have to have our buddy then too?"

"Well, no. I admit there can be some exceptions to this rule. Like, when you're doing your business, or like before nighttime when you're freshening up for the night. Anymore questions?"

"What about before the activities begin? I mean, they begin at about one don't they? Do we have to be with them then too?"

"Yes, unless they're still sleeping. But you're not allowed to leave the campground before one anyways, so it's not like this is really a problem. If your buddy is still sleeping when you wake up you can just hang out at the cafeteria and play cards or some games until the activities start. And then you must be with your buddy. Anymore questions?"

There was none this time.

"Okay, now for Rule Number Two," she said. "Rule Number Two: you are not allowed to leave the campground until one, and even then you're not allowed to leave it if you have Arts and Crafts that day. The campground does not include the forest or this lake. It is basically just the cabins, the bathrooms and shower stalls, and the cafeteria, nothing else. That means you can like, only go to those places. Questions?"

Silence.

"Rule Number Three and Rule Number Four are similar. Rule Number Three, do _not _enter the forest unless there's a counselor with you. The only counselors allowed to take you out to the forest are Zoey, Kenny, Dawn, and Paul. Rule Number Four, do _not_ go down to the lake unless a counselor is with you. The only counselors allowed to take you down to the lake are Misty and Ash. Questions?"

Silence.

"Okay, good. Those are the four major rules. Now that we have those covered we can move on to dinner. Like, who's hungry?"

Everyone cheered loudly.

* * *

With her stomach full from the two hotdogs she had consumed with a bag of chips, Dawn picked at the s'more she was handed and nibbled at the graham cracker part. She was briefly reminded of when she was five years old and how she had been so excited to be handed a marshmallow and chocolate treat squished between two graham crackers.

"What, you're not going to eat your s'mores, DeeDee?" Kenny asked.

"I will… I'm just full right now," she responded. "And stop calling me DeeDee. You're going to get all the campers to call me that."

"Kind of the point," he said, grinning.

"You want me to hit him for you?" Zoey asked, already raising her hand.

"Naw, Kenny's good. He'll stop," Kenny assured her, taking a bite of his s'more.

Zoey quirked an eyebrow, and raised her hand higher, right above Kenny's head. Dawn smiled and shook her head. "No, that's okay, Zoey."

She shrugged, lowering her hand. "Alright. I have all summer to hit him, anyways."

"You wouldn't really hit me," Kenny said.

"You wanna bet?" Zoey asked, raising her hand again. Kenny stared at her, looking thoughtful. Dawn looked back and forth at the two, frowning.

"Yeah, I don't think you would," he said finally, turning back to his s'mores.

"Just wait," the tomboy responded. "Just wait…"

"Oh come on, lighten up for once Zoey," he said. "Don't be such a stick in the mud."

"I am not a stick in the mud," she responded, fixing the brunette with a glare.

"Actually, you kind of are. I mean, hey, I was just joking around you know, teasing Dawn like I always do, and then you butt in with your panties in a knot and threaten to hit me. I mean, _what did I do?!_" he exclaimed, spitting s'mores everywhere as he exclaimed this last sentence.

Zoey rolled her eyes. _"Panties in a knot?" _she repeated.

Kenny nodded. "Yes. Yes, I was just making small talk with DeeDee and then you butted in with your _panties in a knot_. Unless… you're not wearing panties."

Zoey didn't know what he meant by this last statement, but instantly insulted, her eyes widened and she slapped him. There was a loud _thwap! _that echoed as their side of the campfire grew quiet.

Kenny blinked, stunned, as he touched his cheek where Zoey had slapped him. The cheek reddening by the second and it was tender at the touch.

Still angry, Zoey stormed off to sit on the other side of May, only three seats down, but nonetheless farther away from Kenny.

"She… she slapped me!" Kenny exclaimed, stunned. "Why did she slap me? I don't think I said anything _that_ bad…"

"You suggested she wasn't wearing any underwear," Dawn explained, shaking her head. "Seriously, Kenny. Did you really expect her not to slap you for that?"

"I didn't suggest anything like that! I just said… I said… what did I say?" he asked suddenly, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Unless you're not wearing any panties," the blunette said. "By the way, don't say that word anymore. Girls don't like it."

"What word? Panties?" Dawn nodded. Kenny scowled, suddenly frustrated by the world of girls. "And I didn't imply she wasn't wearing pan—_underwear._ I just meant maybe she was wearing something other than pa—_underwear_."

"Dude, not even I would be dumb enough to say something like that," Ash said from his spot next to him. He and Paul had moved to their side of the campfire at Daisy's request; she wanted all the counselors to be together.

"What else did you think she could be wearing anyway? A thong?" Before he could respond, she continued, "Don't answer that. She would have still slapped you anyway, even if she did think you were implying she was wearing a thong or whatever. I don't know what you're doing anyway thinking about Zoey and the type of underwear she is wearing."

Kenny frowned as she said this, an image of Zoey in underwear suddenly entering his mind. Fiercely shaking his head, and blushing slightly, he folded his arms across his chest.

"Whatever. I still don't think I said anything wrong!" he declared, huffing.

"Wait, like, what happened?" Violet asked.

Misty sighed from besides Dawn. "It's a long story, Violet. Let's just say some guys really shouldn't run their mouths."

"You mean, like, Ash?" Lily asked.

Ash blinked. "Wait, what? I didn't do anything!"

Misty smiled. "Well, no. Not this time, at least."

"Not this time? What does that mean?" Ash exclaimed, shooting glares at the three sisters. From besides him Paul rolled his eyes. Dawn watched him for a moment, a smile finding her lips.

He actually looks really cute with the firelight dancing on his face, she thought, rather unexpectedly.

She turned her gaze back to the campfire as she realized there was an intense argument going on between some of the campers.

"What's going on?" she questioned.

"They're arguing about whether that 'monster' is real or not," Zoey answered. Turning to Dawn, she rolled her eyes, making it clear as to what her opinion on the topic was.

The argument was getting louder and louder by the second.

"Hey now, like, let's just all calm down!" Daisy yelled. "Now what's going on here?"

"He's claiming that there really is a monster here!" one of the boys yelled.

Daisy turned to wear he was pointing to see a boy around the same age of the first one with brown hair and green eyes.

"The monster is real!" he shouted back, glaring at the first boy. "Have you gone to this camp four years in a row? No! I didn't think so! This is your first time here!"

"So?" he scoffed. "That's doesn't mean anything! There is no monster here because monsters do not exist! What are you, five?"

"No! And you wouldn't understand. You stay here another four years though and you will!"

"That's stupid, this camp only takes people up to thirteen years old!" the first boy exclaimed. "And I'm ten. I can't stay here until I'm fourteen."

"Well, maybe you can. After all, you look six!"

"Take that back!"

"Make me!"

"Now, now, no violence!" Daisy said. "That's Rule Number Five. Rule Number Five, no violence!" she announced to the camp.

"There _is_ a monster," the second boy insisted.

"Yeah!" a little girl Dawn recognized as being Nova Novella exclaimed shrilly. "It was the monster who got Ruby last year!"

"Ruby didn't go missing because of some monster," another girl retorted. "She went missing because she decided to go hiking in the middle of the night. She got lost, that's all."

"Then why hasn't she shown up?" Nova demanded. "If she got lost, then why isn't she here now?"

"Because she got lost," the girl repeated. "She can't find her way back. She… she probably died in the mountains, Nova."

"Just like all the other girls before her? Every year a counselor goes missing," the boy from before said. "And this year another counselor will go missing."

Dawn exchanged glances with her friends.

"That's ridiculous!" a blue-haired boy exclaimed.

"No, it's not ridiculous! It's fact! I've been going here since I was five and every year I've gone here one of the girl counselors has gone missing. My mom went here when she was younger, and she said even then a girl counselor would always disappear."

"Those girls only disappear because they decide to go hiking in the middle of the night!" A brunette scoffed.

"This is getting intense…" May murmured. Dawn wanted to agree but found she couldn't move her lips. She was too focused on the conversation.

"There's no evidence they've gone hiking in the middle of the night!" Another girl scoffed. "All we know is that they always disappear in the middle of the night. They are here one night, and then gone the next morning."

"Well, what else are they doing in the middle of the night?" the green-haired girl, Rosie, asked.

"Anything," the girl responded. "For all we know they could have gone to the bathroom and the monster ate them then."

"Wouldn't there be blood if that happened?"

"Not if the monster swallowed them whole."

"The monster is real," the same boy from before declared. "And this year one of _them_ will go missing!" He pointed to where all the counselors were sitting and single-handedly pointed out each girl.

Dawn felt a chill as he pointed at her, an eerie feeling settling over her.

"Personally, I really hope it's not Dawn who goes missing," Rudy said, smiling suggestively. "She's hot. And feisty," he added with a wink.

Dawn clenched the s'more in her hand, sending large pieces of graham crackers to the ground. She kept her eyes glued to the crackling orange and gold flames of the fire, that familiar feeling of being watched sweeping over her.

"Dawn, are you okay?" Misty asked, her eyes flickering from Dawn's blank face to the squashed s'more in her hand that was beginning to ooze chocolate. The chocolate was beginning to trickle down the palm of her hand, resembling blood in the dancing firelight.

Dawn didn't answer.

"Rudy, you're such a pig," one of the girls his age declared, disgust contorting her features.

"Don't be jealous now, Maribel," he responded, sticking his tongue out.

"I'm not jealous!" she shot back, also sticking her tongue out.

"Um, like, let's be nice now!" Daisy said, sweat dropping. Clapping her hands together, she announced, "Okay, time to leave! Come on, time to get to bed! We have a big day tomorrow! Ash, Kenny, Zoey, don't forget you have to clean up everything."

Zoey shot a glare at Kenny who stuck his tongue out. Ash groaned.

"Ha! Glad, I'm not stuck with that j—"

"Misty, you have to stay too since Ash is your partner."

"Damn it!" she cursed.

"Like, watch your language little sister," Daisy said, smiling. "You just to have stay here until they finish. You don't have to clean up with them. You ready, Trace?" she asked, turning to her husband.

"If you are," he said, slipping his arm around her waist. Daisy smiled, intertwining her fingers with his other hand.

"Yuck!" Rudy declared. "Who's the guy?"

"Her husband," Dawn responded. Suddenly she became aware of the chocolate and marshmallow stuck to her fingers.

"Buddies, everyone!"

Dawn found Paul a few feet ahead. He slowed as he waited for her, his expression blank.

"Yuck! Grownups are gross!" Rudy declared. "I don't see what's so special about that guy anyway!"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't. You're not in love with him."

"And I'm glad!" he muttered. "Say, are you in love with anybody?"

Dawn smiled, a laugh escaping her lips. "No. I don't even have a boyfriend," she responded. Suddenly she wondered if she should have told _Rudy_ this. "I'm not in love with anybody."

"Good," he said. He seemed to be eyeing Paul as he said this. "I admit though, I'm surprised though. A pretty lady like you being single? Not possible! Maybe we should change that…"

"Haven't you been told before not to pick up on ladies older than you?" she asked.

Rudy huffed as she said this, suddenly marching away as he shot another glare at the indifferent Paul.

"That kid does not take no for an answer, does he?" May asked, walking up beside her, Drew close to her side.

"Apparently," she muttered.

"Kind of reminds me of somebody," Drew said. A vein popped in May's head.

"If you're suggesting I'm just like that kid, fawning over you, I'll pound you in the head because I DO NOT fawn over you!" May declared, glaring at the smug chartreuse-haired teen.

Drew smirked. "I would suggest no such thing," he responded. "You certainly are defensive though."

May turned away, directing her sapphire eyes to the ground. "Well, it feels like you're always suggesting that, so yeah, of course I'm defensive!" she muttered.

Dawn found this ironic considering she did have a crush on him. Although she wouldn't exactly say May fawned over him…

Drew frowned suddenly. "I was merely referring to Brianna." He turned away then, flicking at his bangs again. "But whatever. I see you are clearly not interested in me in any way whatsoever."

May said nothing to this, so Drew decided to turn his attention to Dawn and Paul.

"So, maybe you two are fonder of each other than May is of me," Drew suggested.

"Oh, um…" Dawn frowned, not sure what to say. She turned towards Paul and realized he wasn't going to offer any opinion on her. "I'm sure May doesn't mean to imply she doesn't like you." May looked up suddenly, her expression worried as she fiercely mouthed for her not to tell Drew she liked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What I mean is…" She trailed off, thinking over her words. "You two are friends, aren't you?"

Drew smirked. "If that's what May told you, then I guess so." May face-palmed herself. Dawn just smiled though.

As Dawn fell back to talk to May, Drew jogged to catch up with Paul.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hn." Paul's typical response.

"So, looking forward to working with the girl scout?" Drew asked.

"You mean Dawn?"

"She's the only girl scout around here I know," he responded, smiling. Paul just shrugged. "What? That's all I get? _A shrug?_"

Paul scowled. "What did you expect?"

"From you? Honestly, I guess nothing more than what I got," he responded, flicking his hair. "Dawn seems nice though. Do you two know each other from someplace?" he questioned. "You two seem familiar with each other."

Paul sighed, and responded, "She was travelling with Ash when I met him."

"Ah, right. So you two did know each other," he said, a small smirk gracing his features. "Did you two ever talk back then?"

"Not often," he mumbled. He remembered one of the last times he had seen her before he came here. It had been right before his battle with Ash in the Sinnoh League… "You certainly are asking a lot of questions."

"Just curious, that's all," he responded simply.

"I thought you were pining after May," Paul commented, narrowing his eyes.

Drew scoffed, a small blush crawling on his cheeks. "I'm not pining after anybody," he muttered under his breath.

Just then they made it to the cabins. Dawn walked immediately to the bathroom, to wash the melted chocolate and marshmallows from her hands while May walked back to her own cabin after she made sure all the kids made it safely to their cabin.

As Paul got ready for bed, he thought about tomorrow and what the day could possibly bring.

* * *

**Not really any pokéshipping this chapter, but rest assured there will be lots more next chapter. **

**So, predictions? Thoughts? Questions? Let me know in a review!**

**Next Chapter: A Terrible, Terrible Day**


	5. A Terrible, Terrible Day

**Horrors of Camping**

_.x._

_CHAPTER FIVE  
A Terrible, Terrible Day_

_.x._

"It's snowing again…"

"I see, dear."

"It's so white out…"

"It's been snowing all day and night. We're running out of food…"

A thick silence filled the room.

"Do you think he's okay?" she whispered. "He's been gone for a long time…"

"I'm sure he's fine, dear."

More silence.

"Yeah, you're right. He has strong pokémon, the strongest pokémon out of all of us, I'm sure he's fine. After all, any pokémon in the woods would be no match for his pokémon."

"I'm glad to see your optimism is back," her friend said from behind her.

"Like you said, he'll be back. It's only been ten days, and I'm sure he's just having trouble getting through the snow. He has his fire pokémon with him, so the cold weather shouldn't be a problem for him. After all, it's not like there's a blizzard. This is just like a drizzle, only it's a snow-drizzle, you know?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I know. We have nothing to worry about."

"Nope! So let's focus on something else…or say, _someone_ else, like your _boyfriend_."

* * *

Zoey was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on their door. Groaning, she buried her face in the pillow and squeezed her eyes shut. She could still hear the knocking though, the sound becoming louder by the second. Whoever was knocking was obviously getting impatient.

Realizing everyone else was either asleep, pretending to be asleep, or not about to get up, she groaned and got up. She realized she was only wearing a sheer white tank top (which was slightly see-through…) and her red glameow pajama pants, but she didn't care. Whoever the hell thought to wake her up at this time in the morning would just have to deal with her bedraggled sight.

"What kind of insane person wakes up this early in the morning anyway?" she grumbled, seeing the clock which read 6:43.

_Pure insanity._

"Yeah?" she mumbled as she unlocked and opened the cabin door, squinting as she attempted to make out the insane blur behind the bright morning sunrise.

"Paul?" she said, surprised. Well, he isn't here for me, she thought. "I'll get Dawn," she said automatically, turning away while leaving the door wide open.

Paul didn't respond. He just leaned one shoulder against the door way, his expression blank and his arms crossed as he waited for the redhead to wake the sleeping blunette.

"Dawn… Dawn… Dawn!" Zoey shook the blunette who was mumbling something about being freezing. "Dawn, wake up! Someone's here for you! DAWN!"

Finally, slowly, her eyes began to open before drifting close again.

"Wha…" she murmured.

"Someone – is here – for _you_," she repeated. Finally, she sighed. "Fine, but remember, you made me do this."

"Do wha…"

"You made me do this, Dawn," she said again. Sighing, she raised one hand. "One…" The blunette didn't stir. "Two…" She murmured something under her breath. "Okay then. THREE!"

A loud slap echoed throughout the room followed by a scream. Paul raised an eyebrow as he watched the blunette jerk up, her head hitting the bed above it, her teary eyes glaring at Zoey as she rubbed her bruised butt.

"Zoey!" she cried.

"You wouldn't get up," she defended, raising her hands in defense. "By the way, Paul's here," she told her, pointing at the doorway before walking back to her own bed and climbing under the covers.

She stared at the plum-haired man in the doorway, frowning. Why is he here? She wondered. I was woken up because of him? Ugggh, today's going to be a long day!

"What is it?" she grumbled, reluctantly getting up.

"I'm training, Daisy doesn't want us to set a bad example by being without our 'buddy'," he rolled his eyes as he said this. "And you're my buddy, so let's go."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "I got woken up at… at… what time is it? Six? I got woken up at six so you can go train?! Forget it, I'm going back to sleep!" she declared, about to turn away.

"Fine, I'll just go get Daisy then."

Dawn stopped as he said this. Her eyes narrowed. Oh, he was threatening her now!

She considered still going back to bed, but she already knew it would do no good.

"Ugh, fine," she grumbled. "But I'm still going back to sleep!" she declared, grabbing her blankets and piplup-shaped pillow.

"Good." And suddenly he smirked. "By the way… nice hair."

Dawn's cheeks reddened at this remark as she realized what she must have looked like to him dressed in her black tank top and pink boxer shorts with piplup prints, her long hair no doubt looking like a bird nest.

She bit her tongue to stifle a scream and dug her fingernails in her precious, precious pillow-pokémon to stop herself from throwing it at the smug plum-haired trainer.

Huffing, she strode back to one of the dressers present in the room and pulled out a pink hairbrush which she pulled frantically through her hair.

"Let's go," Paul called impatiently, now scowling.

"Jerk," she huffed, following after him.

"Teenagers," Zoey muttered as they left.

What are we gonna do with ourselves…

* * *

It was right after lunch when Daisy revealed the groups that kids would be put in and there schedule for the summer.

Looking over the schedule for that day, Zoey sighed.

Rudy was in her group, the flirtatious little womanizer that was like a younger, shorter replica of Brock.

Finally something fortunate comes out from not being as pretty as Dawn or the rest of my friends, she thought. Thinking of the little womanizer, here he comes now.

Zoey scowled as Kenny took his place next to her. She had still not forgiven him for what he had said the night before.

_If I'm even wearing any underwear!_ She snorted. (No, she was not gonna say that damn p word… the word was just annoying as hell).

She had always liked Kenny, as a friend of course, but there were just times when she wanted to do nothing but wring his neck or give him a good smack on the head. Sometimes she even wished she could borrow Misty's mallet just so she could beat the living day pulp out of him.

She understood he didn't want her to be his partner; he wanted Dawn as his partner. She knew that to a lot of people, especially boys, she was not nearly as pretty as Dawn with her feminine style, long silky hair and her stunning eyes that matched the shade of her midnight locks perfectly. She got it – Dawn was pretty, beautiful even. She was almost every guy's dream girl.

And Kenny, of course, was no exception. In fact, he was probably Dawn's biggest admirer.

And for whatever reason, that fact just irritated her to no end.

"So are you still mad about what I said last night?" he asked, his face blank. She glared at him, which for him, was answer enough. "I didn't mean it the way you took it, okay. It was a joke. Geez, ease up. Dawn wouldn't have taken it so seriously."

And the reason Kenny's crush on Dawn irritated her to no end probably had something to do with the fact that he always compared her to the blunette.

"Well, I'm not Dawn," she snapped back. "So get use to the way I react to things, got it Solomon?"

"Touchy," he remarked. "Using last names, eh? Well I can do that too, _Nozomi_."

Zoey rolled her eyes, she turned her attention back to the campers they would be instructing for the days. Turning to them she realized most of them had been listening to their conversation and were staring at them with wide, confused eyes.

"Why are they calling each other by their last names?" One of the younger girls, only around five years old, questioned. "Do they not like each other?"

Rudy shook his head and smirked. "Naww. That's just how teenagers flirt!" he whispered quite loudly. "Not that I blame that Kenny guy though. Zoey is _hot!_ She could do so much better than him…"

Zoey felt her face heat up at the younger boy's remark. He thought her and Kenny were flirting? She was even more shocked though by the fact that he had called her hot.

"Like check out her chest…"

"Shut up, you perv." A girl around his age exclaimed, smacking him hard on the back of his head.

"OW! Maribel—!"

It was at this moment Zoey decided to start the activity.

"Hello everyone! As you may know from last night, I'm Zoey, and I'm the director of the bird watching and pokémon tracking activity!"

"And so am I!" Kenny exclaimed, flashing them a huge grin.

"And there's him," she sighed. "Anyway, today we will be going out into the forest to look for some tracks which we will attempt to identify. Does anybody have any suggestions for which part of the forest we should go in?"

"Ooh ooh! I know!" Maribel exclaimed, her bright gold curls bouncing as she eagerly waved her hand. "We should on that side of the forest," she declared, pointing to the west side of the forest. "There's a river that runs through the river that way, and there's the most _adorable_ water pokémon there!"

"Any other suggestions?" Zoey asked.

There was none.

"Okay, then, let's check it out. Maybe we can even follow the river if we find it, and see where it goes to. Now everybody get with their buddies! We don't want anyone getting lost, okay!"

"The river leads into the mountains," Maribel told her, her green eyes bright with excitement as she talked. "Our director for this activity last year, Ruby, let us follow it! We wanted to see if it led to the Scarlet Waterfall, but she wouldn't let us follow it all the way…"

"Oh, that's cool," Zoey said. "And Scarlet Waterfall? Isn't that just a rumored waterfall?"

"Mhm! I bet it's real though! I mean the moon turns scarlet here, so I bet a waterfall here can also turn red!"

"Well, it's possible, I suppose."

"Just like I suppose the monster here is real, too!" Kenny cut in, grinning mischievously. "A monster that is thirty feet tall and twenty feet wide with humongous sharp teeth and even more humongous claws!"

"Kenny, knock it off," Zoey said, rolling her eyes and scowling.

"What? It's a joke," he responded back, also scowling. "Gosh, you're such a buzz kill."

"Well, somebody needs to be mature around here," she snapped. "And obviously it's not going to be you."

"I can be mature!" he exclaimed. "Watch! Hey, you, shut up! Hey, you, stop picking your nose! Hey, you, no joking around!"

"That is not being mature, in fact, that is just the opposite," she responded. "Now quit being childish and look for some tracks!" As soon as she turned her back he made a face, silently mimicking her last few words.

"So bossy!" he grumbled, glaring at the ground as he searched for tracks of any kind. Do this, do that! Gaahh! She is impossible, he thought to himself.

"They must really like each other…" The little five year old, Lizzy, whispered.

Kenny scowled as he heard this, but said nothing. Lizzy was five. She was naïve. She didn't know any better.

"Hey, some tracks!" He exclaimed suddenly, grinning as he spotted the tiny three-toed tracks. "Now who could of made these?"

Zoey squatted as she examined the small paw prints. "First, let's make some observations, then we'll take some guesses on who we think made these tracks," she said. "What are some details that stick out?"

"It's tiny," Lizzy chirped. "So a small pokémon must have made the tracks!"

Zoey smiled. "Very good, Lizzy… Anyone else?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"The tracks aren't deep, like, at all," Rudy said, "So obviously the pokémon is light."

"Duh. Small pokémon are light," Maribel muttered from beside him.

"Small pokémon can be fat too, ya know!" he exclaimed, turning his glare on the golden-haired girl. "So shut up, Maribel!"

"You, you creep!"

"Okay now, let's not get into an argument," Zoey interrupted, stepping in-between the pre-teens. "Any other observations anyone wants to make?" Silence. "Anyone?"

Kenny stepped forward. "I have one."

Zoey raised an eyebrow, surprise and doubt filling her. Well, no one else was saying anything, so… "What's your observation, then?" she asked.

The brunette squatted. "Well, this probably isn't very helpful in identifying which pokémon made this track, but this pokémon does have three toes. See, one, two, three. A small, three toed pokémon made this track. But," standing up, he walked a few feet away and then squatted down again. "This may be more helpful in helping us determine the owner or owners of these tracks."

Curious, Zoey followed him and saw what he was peering at: a half-eaten berry.

Okay, she was impressed.

"That's a Chilan berry," Maribel observed. "I remember seeing them several times while I was traveling…"

"Rattatas eat Chilan berries!" Summer, an eleven year old with pale blonde hair and cinnamon-colored eyes, who had a twin who was also attending the camp, exclaimed. "They must be rattata tracks! They are small, light, and they have three toes! I know because my sister used to own a rattata before it evolved!"

"Very good, Summer," the red-head praised. "Those are rattata tracks."

The girl beamed, obviously pleased with herself.

"Okay, let's continue on this track. See if you can find any more tracks, ones that differ from the ones we just observed."

The kids hurried on, chatting excitedly amongst themselves as they scanned the ground for visible tracks, while Zoey and Kenny trailed behind them.

"Hey, good job on finding the tracks, and that berry," she said, her voice unusually soft as she spoke.

Kenny quirked an eyebrow at her before a grin filled his face. "Thanks! I'm just a genius like that, you know. Yeah, it's no big deal," he said smugly.

Zoey just grunted, her eyes glued to the eight kids, making sure none of them ran off or got lost.

"Um, hey, listen, um," Zoey turned to Kenny, surprised by how serious he sounded, and even more surprised by his serious regard. "What I said yesterday… it was stupid, but I really didn't mean it to come out like how it did… it was a stupid thing for me to say, and um, sorry if it offended you," he said honestly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, it was a stupid thing to say," she mumbled, turning her attention back to the kids.

"So, um, apology accepted?" he asked hopefully.

Zoey was silent for a moment.

"Hey, when are we going to learn to bird call! I wanna be able to talk to my papa's pidgey!" A younger boy exclaimed.

"That's easy, if you want to talk to your dad's pidgey, all you have to do is mimic their call!" he exclaimed. "Like this, now just watch and learn."

Kenny cleared his throat. All eyes were trained on him as they waited for his demonstration to begin.

"COO COO! COO _CAAAWW-_K!"

"Pidgeys don't sound like that!" Lizzy exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Zoey smiled to herself.

Yeah… apology accepted… she thought, chuckling.

"_COO COO! COO __**CAAAWW-K!"**_

* * *

Dawn turned abruptly around, alarmed. "I think a pokémon is dying!" she exclaimed, shocked.

Paul rolled his eyes, easily recognizing the call as belonging to Kenny. The brunette had made several horrible attempts at birdcalls on their long ride up to Camp Scarlett.

"Just ignore it," he responded, scowling.

He just wanted to get this day over with. The sun was scorching today, and the kids were being more than rowdy, something which annoyed him to no end. He especially disliked the boy that thought it was funny to throw pebbles at his back or poke him with a stick.

"But the pokémon could be dying!" she exclaimed, worry clear in her eyes. "We should go and help it!"

"We're already in the mountain, and it's on the other side of the forest," he responded sharply back. "Just ignore it. It's not important."

"But it could be _dying!"_ she repeated, shock evident in her eyes. She glared at him. _"Dying."_

"Ignore it," he repeated, growing extremely irritated. Another pebble bounced off his back and his scowled deepened as he grinded his teeth together.

"How can you just say that?" she exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"Easily," he responded. His nostrils flared as two more pebbles bounced off him. "You want me to repeat that? _Ignore it_."

"How can you be so heartless?" she exclaimed. "It might need our help!"

Another pebble hit his back, this one being at least three times bigger than the last ones, and definitely more painful than the last ones considering it hit him right in the spine.

"It doesn't need our goddamn help, _so ignore it_," he barked. He turned around then, turning a threatening glare at the violet-haired brat.

Dawn gasped. "Don't curse! We're in front of children, Paul!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

"Then leave the subject alone. There is no pokémon dying, and we are not turning back! Got it?" Before she could answer, he turned away, steaming.

_What an ass!_ She exclaimed silently to herself, tears stinging her eyes. Stubbornly, she blinked the tears away, and held her chin up.

"Are you okay, miss?" Dawn looked down to see the sweet purple-haired boy Paul has previously been glaring at for no reason. He looked up at her with worried mahogany-colored eyes. She smiled down at him.

"I'm fine, no need to worry, Ralph," she responded. Looking up, she glared at Paul's back. "Someone is just moody today!" she said, loud enough so he could hear.

Paul pretended not to hear.

* * *

The next day Dawn was woken up at the crack of dawn by Paul knocking on their cabin door.

_Damn him,_ she thought, burying her face in her pillow. _Not again._

* * *

Misty frowned at the sight of Dawn walking into the cafeteria. Her hair was wet from the recent shower she had just took, but a scowl still painted her features as she sat down with a tray of French toast, sunny-side up eggs, and orange juice.

Obviously she was still ticked over getting woken up at the crack of dawn by Paul.

"Training-obsessed, insomniac jerk…" she was grumbling as she stabbed at her egg.

"I don't get why you don't just tell him no," Misty commented, taking a bite of her egg. "I mean, you could just tell him no. He can't _force_ you to go with him."

"Nnm…" she grumbled. Sighing, she placed her fork down and crossed her arms unhappily. "You know yesterday we were almost in the mountains when I heard the most horrible call. I thought a pokémon was dying, so I wanted to go back and see if we could find it. You know, to see if we could somehow help it, but he was like forget it! He is such a freaking ass! A pokémon could be dying, and he could still not care! He's like hear—"

"Wait a minute," Zoey said suddenly, holding up her hand. "When did you hear this 'dying' pokémon?"

"Maybe about half an hour or an hour after the activities began? Why? Did you see the pokémon? Is it alright?" she asked.

Zoey smiled. "I'm pretty sure that dying pokémon you were hearing was Kenny. He isn't the best bird caller," she explained.

Dawn blinked, shocked. "That was Kenny? Really?"

Zoey nodded.

Dawn frowned, but then huffing, she picked up her fork and started to stab her eggs again. "Well, Paul's still a jerk! He was being an ass all day! Like he kept yelling at me just because I stepped off the path for _two seconds_ to show the kids this pretty rock I saw!"

"So you're not having fun either, huh?" May asked. Dawn shook her head. "Neither am I. Why are some boys just so unbearable?"

"I wish I knew why," Dawn responded, sighing.

Misty looked around the room and noticed Daisy was nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the clock in the room and frowned.

Daisy usually gets breakfast around this time, she thought.

"Hey, I'm going to go check on Daisy," she announced abruptly, standing up.

"Oh, okay. Well, see ya around then Mist," Dawn said.

Misty exited the cafeteria, her eyes drifting for a few seconds to all the pictures that hung on the left wall. She walked quickly towards Daisy's office, not wanting to be seen by any early risers without a partner.

"Daisy?" she asked, rapping lightly on the door. "Daisy? You there?"

Worry began to grow in the redhead. "Daisy?" Slowly, she opened the door.

"Misty!" She turned to the sound of Tracy's voice and gasped at the sight of Daisy, lying on the floor, her hair splayed over her face. Misty felt her heart stop at the sight of the beautiful blonde with all the color washed from her face, as limp as a rag in Tracy's arms.

She's dead, oh my gosh, she's dead, she thought, tears already forming in her eyes.

"Daisy!" she screamed, rushing to her side.

She brushed Daisy's bangs out her head and saw the light blue band-aid with luvdisc prints she used to cover the red gash she had gotten barely over a week ago. Her sister was so pale, with the light streaming through the office window, Daisy looked like a ghost…

"What happened Tracy?" she demanded, sobs choking her speech. She turned to the raven-haired watcher and saw that he looked as distressed as she felt.

"I don't know! I just came in here, and she collapsed suddenly!" He exclaimed, and Misty saw his eyes were beginning to water.

Just then Ash walked in.

"Hey, is everything alright? I heard Misty scream—Daisy?" Misty turned miserably towards Ash. Their eyes locked.

"What happened?" he exclaimed, shocked, as he also rushed to Daisy's side. Misty was too upset to answer him.

Just then Daisy stirred.

"Daisy!" Misty exclaimed, relieved.

Groaning, Daisy slowly sat up, her fingers delicately touching her bandaged gash and then the back of her head. "Like… ow. My head," she groaned.

"Are you alright, Daisy?" Tracy questioned, supportively wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Do you need anything? Do you want me to take you to the hospital, because I drive you—"

"No… Tracy, it's okay… I just, I just… fainted. I was feeling woozy, and I was like going to sit down, but I… I fainted before I could, I guess," the blonde explained. She smiled at her husband, trying to look reassuring. "I'm fine, really, Trace."

Suddenly she turned to Misty who was now using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. She smiled at her, and she reached out to cup her younger sister's cheek.

"Hey, cheer up, little sister. I'm fine, it was like, just a fainting spell, that's all," she reassured.

"Are you sure you're okay, Daisy?" Misty asked. "I mean, you've never fainted before. Maybe it's your head… you might have gotten a concussion when we got into that accident!"

"What accident?" Ash asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm fine, Misty. Really. Like I said I was just feeling woozy and I fainted. It's like, probably because I didn't eat anything. Nothing to worry about," she reassured once more. "Help me up, Trace," she said, reaching her hands up. Standing up, Tracy helped pull her up.

"But Daisy what if you have a concussion?" Misty insisted, worry and fear for her sister gnawing at her.

"I'm fine, Misty. It was just a freak thing, it won't happen again. Trust me, okay? Just trust me…" Daisy murmured. Sighing, she leaned against Tracy. "Like, besides, I can't leave. I have a duty here…"

"Daisy…"

The blonde smiled. "Don't worry little sis. Now why don't you and Ash go down to the beach? It's actually pretty warm today… you can go and work on your tan, or go swim with all your pokémon! Now doesn't that sound like fun?"

Misty frowned unhappily, but realized there was no way she would be able to convince Daisy to leave the camp to go to the hospital.

"Okay," she said, turning away, her heart finally starting to slow from the scare, but goosebumps still covered her arms and legs as she left.

Ash followed slowly after her. Tentatively, he placed a hand on her should. "Misty? Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Misty stopped walking and breathed in shakily. Slowly, she smiled as she turned towards Ash. She blinked back the tears she felt forming behind her eyes as she said, "I'm perfectly fine, Ash… but I'm afraid Daisy may not be."

Ash nodded, sympathetic. "I'm sorry for what happened, Mist. But maybe she is fine! I mean, she hadn't ate breakfast yet right? So she could have just fainted from that, and not anything _really_ serious. Or she could have even fainted from dehydration!"

The smile slipped off Misty's face. "I hope so, Ash…" she whispered, turning away.

* * *

Dawn had just finished eating her lunch and was waiting for the last few minutes until she would have to lead her second group into the mountains with Paul, when she noticed not for the first time all the pictures on the wall.

I wonder why these people got their pictures on the wall, Dawn wondered, her eyes scanning the pictures. Did they get their pictures on the wall for being an excellent counselor? Were they counselor of the year? Or summer, whatever?

Dawn stared at the last portrait on the wall, a portrait of a girl with stunning bright red hair and matching red eyes. Dawn couldn't help but notice how incredibly pretty the girl was. She looked at the plaque underneath the portrait.

Ruby Claret.

Ruby? Hadn't she heard that name just recently? But where? Had one of the campers mentioned her name before?

She read the rest of the plaque.

1996—2012.

It was now 2013.

She died last summer, she realized. And she was born the same year as me, she realized, a chill going down her spine.

She glanced at all the plaques and saw similar information.

Mabel Beaux. 1992—2009. Jean Venice. 1973—1989. Elizabeth Logan. 1945—1961.

The last name belonged to the first girl on the wall, a pretty blond with amazing jade green eyes.

Had they all died here? Dawn wondered, shocked. How did they die? How did so many girls die? That last thought made her realize that all the portraits on the wall were portraits of girls.

"Hey."

Dawn jumped, and cursing silently, she squeezed her eyes shut and willed her speeding heart to slow. Slowly, she turned to see Paul standing a few feet behind her, an annoyed expression painting his features.

"Hurry up, we have to go," he said impatiently, turning away.

Dawn fought the childish urge to mimic him as she stomped after him.

She followed him out of the cafeteria to a giant white rock that went to her knees, their official meeting spot which had been discussed the morning before. She waited as kids finished their lunch and headed out towards their new group.

Dawn smiled at the sight of Nova who was heading towards hers and Paul's group.

"Dawn!" the little girl exclaimed, smiling brightly at the blunette. Dawn's smile widened. The girl was followed by her buddy, a girl about two years older than with long, curly eggplant purple hair and clear blue eyes.

The pair was followed by three more pairs of buddies who were also in their group, and one of the kids she recognized as May's younger brother, Max. After making sure they were all in the right group, they decided to head out.

It was silent most of the way as they made their way through the forest, asides from the quiet murmuring of the kids in their groups and the occasional excited squeal from Nova whenever she spotted a pokémon she had never seen before.

They kept glancing at her and Paul through narrowed eyes. Dawn had the feeling they could sense the tension between them, and that was why they were being so quiet. Either that, or this was the good group. Either way, the quietness was really starting to unnerve her.

Finally, they arrived in front of the mountain, and they stopped in front of the same sign she had seen the first day her and Paul had explored the mountain.

"Okay, which trail are we taking today?" she asked, folding her arms across her red Camp Scarlet sweatshirt. "Personally, I think we should take the slowpoke trail today!"

Yes, she had taken the liberty to name all the trails they had charted down.

Paul narrowed his eyes. "You only want to go down that trail so you can sight-see," he responded accusingly.

Dawn felt her cheeks flush immediately. "Well, maybe the kids would like to see the giant rock shaped like a slowpoke!" she shot back. "We should be taking them down fun, interesting trails anyway. _Not _plain, boring trails like the one we went down yesterday."

"Oh yeah, because there's really interesting trails in a mountain," he snorted, rolling his eyes. "We're going down the same trail as yesterday. We'll go down a new trail when we have taken all five groups down this trail, got it?"

Before she could respond, he started walking. She would have protested angrily back at him, but she could feel eight pairs of eyes on her.

So instead she just growled, her eyes glaring daggers at his back as she followed after him, the kids following slowly and nervously behind them.

"Is this a good idea?" she heard one of the boys whisper. "What if one of them gets mad and decides to sacrifice the other to the monster, and then threatens to sacrifice us if we don't keep quiet!"

Dawn felt herself blush at this remark. Did they really believe her and Paul would do that to each other? She looked up at Paul, but he either hadn't heard the little boy or wasn't bothered by it.

"Johnny, you have a big imagination…" Paisley, Nova's buddy, responded quietly.

"Well, Abby said—" Abby had been in their group yesterday. "—that Dawn looked as if she was about to do just that yesterday!"

She so did not!

If anything, she probably looked as if she was about to push him off the cliff, but not into the mouth of some fictional monster…

Dawn's cheeks reddened at this thought.

Darn those pre-teen gossipers!

"Dude, I know Dawn, she's like my sister's best friend. She wouldn't do that to anyone," Max responded. Thank you May's little brother… "But then again, I could be proven wrong," Oh, whatever, Max! "But an occasion when that happens would be super rare." He grinned.

Dawn sighed, feeling impossibly irritated. Why did she have to have Paul as her partner? Why not super-nice Ash or bubbly Kenny or even arrogant Drew? May would complain about Drew and his arrogance every once in a while, but he seemed nice enough to her. He seemed _much_ nicer than Paul.

And maybe it was just her, but Paul had turned into an even bigger jerk since she first met him when she was ten years old.

She started to jog in order to catch up with him.

She glanced around at their surroundings. The trail they had taken curved a lot and mostly just had weeds and ugly gray rocks. The other trails weren't much better, but they at least had a few interesting sights along the way—like a precipice overlooking the ocean, or a butt or slowpoke-shaped rock, and heck, one trail they found even had a bed of pretty golden flowers—unlike this trail which had not an interesting feature to it.

"This trail is lame," she muttered.

Paul didn't respond. He just kept walking, his strides long. Already Dawn was falling back behind. She glanced behind her, and saw the younger kids were jogging after them and were still way behind.

"Hey! Slow down! Nova and the younger kids can't keep up," she exclaimed. She heard a low rumble come from Paul, but he slowed his stride and then stopped until everyone had caught up.

"Can we slow down?" Nova asked, her pink pigtails loose. "My legs hurt!"

"You want to take a break?" Dawn asked, bending so she was at eye-level with the sweet little girl. She nodded eagerly.

"Okay, everyone, we're taking a short break!" she called, and there were murmurs of gratitude. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Paul was scowling, but she didn't care. She was in charge of the activity too, damn it! He didn't get to make up all the rules!

"Dawn?"

"Yes, Nova?"

"How come you don't like Paul?"

Dawn blinked, surprised by the girl's bluntness. She sweat dropped, Nova's curious gaze prying into hers as she stumbled for a response.

"Oh, umm, uh, umm," she could Paul's presence behind her and she could feel his eyes on her as he waited for her answer.

"And how come you don't like, Dawn?" the girl asked, now talking to Paul. She smiled at him. "I think she's really nice and sweet."

Darn little kids and their bluntness and naivety! She turned towards Paul.

Paul just shrugged, looking away.

Nova frowned but then turned back to her.

Dawn sighed. "You'll understand someday when you're in my shoes," she responded. And you have to collaborate with some jerk who doesn't even want to be here, she added bitterly.

"Okay, break over," Paul gruffly declared.

Dawn's eyes widened. "It's only been one minute though!" she exclaimed.

He turned a frosty glare on her. "They got a one-minute break. Now it's time to go," he responded back coldly.

Dawn seethed under her breath. Angrily, she kept pace with him. She had had it with his attitude. "Why must you act this way?" she asked.

"Why must you be so annoying?" he shot back, not even sparing her a glance.

"I know you don't want to be here," she said, her voice oddly soft now. "But that doesn't mean you should ruin it for the kids who do want to be here!"

Paul remained quiet, something which irked Dawn further.

"Well… aren't you going to say anything?" she asked, frustrated.

"No," he responded. "I'm just waiting for you to shut up."

Finally, Dawn snapped. "Why are you even _here_ if you don't want to be here?" she asked.

"It's none of your business," he hissed dangerously back.

"Well I want to know!" she responded. "You don't want to be here, and I want to know why!"

"It's none of your damn business!" he hissed again. "And it certainly isn't to keep _you_ company, so just shut the hell up already!"

"Someone is touchy on this subject," she commented, her face flushing as tears started to build up in her eyes. Stubbornly, she blinked them back, determined to keep them at bay.

"And you're annoying," he sneered.

Dawn felt her chest tighten as stupid hurt washed over her. Why was he being this way? I should have expected this from him, she thought. I shouldn't have bought up the topic. Of course he wouldn't want to tell me. To him I'm just a dumb, useless girl.

He didn't say that, but she just knew he was thinking that.

Stubbornly, she pressed the subject, just one more time.

"If you don't want to be here, why don't you just leave?" she asked quietly.

"Don't you think I would if I could?" he scoffed. "What, do you actually think I enjoy being stuck here with a bunch of brats and some _annoying girl who just doesn't know when to drop the subject and shut up?_ Because guess what, I don't enjoy it at all."

He didn't like her, not even a little. He didn't enjoy her company. He just thought she was an annoying girl, which at that moment, was exactly how Dawn felt. She didn't know why, but for some reason she resented this.

Those words stung Dawn, and silently, she fell behind Paul as her steps slowed. She hated herself as tears started to blur her eyes. She started to shake, and she desperately wrapped her arms around herself, not wanting to look weak, not wanting to cry. She stubbornly blinked back the tears, but more tears just came.

Why did his words bother her so much?

She didn't want him to think she was annoying. She didn't want him to hate being with her. She wanted him to like her. Not like-like her, just _like_ her. Maybe it was because she hated not being liked, maybe it was because she wanted everybody to like her to some degree, or maybe she just wanted Paul to like her since he was so cold and distant.

A single tear fell and slid down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away and the tears that followed it.

"Dawn?"

It was Nova.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked from behind her. Could she see that she was crying?

"I'm fine," she responded thickly back.

Sighing, she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and blinking back the remaining tears that filled her vision once more. Suddenly a noise to her right caught her attention.

A breeze passed through the mountain, tugging at Dawn's locks and the beanie she wore. A strained silence filled the air as the thuds of shoes against the hard mountain floor as they walked became the only noise accompanying the mountain. They had been walking for about fifteen minutes in silence, when suddenly, she spotted what looked like a young girl in a gray gown.

Dawn was shocked momentarily, believing it to be one of their kids who had wandered off the trail. Then the girl vanished, and Dawn stood there, shocked, and her mouth agape.

She also momentarily forgot she was still upset with Paul.

"Paul!" She yelled, stepping off the path and into the tall weeds, her eyes scanning the horizon for the girl she had just seen. Where did she go? "I just saw—"

"Arbok!" The threatening hiss came moments too late as she felt sharp fangs dig into her ankles.

Dawn's eyes widened as tears filled her vision. There was a sharp sting as fangs met flesh, and greatly shocked, she jerked her leg, a movement which led the cobra pokémon's fangs to tear deeper into her exposed skin.

Naturally, she screamed.

"Torterra, stand by for battle!" The giant continent pokémon emerged before them, immediately scaring off the pokémon.

Her scream pierced the air as the pokémon ripped its fang out of her skin, and tears filled her eyes once more as the bite began to swell and throb, a burning sensation first climbing and then consuming her leg. Her vision blurred, and the blur didn't go away even when she blinked away the tears. An overwhelming fear hit her and she began to sway. Faintly, she could hear Paul instructing her.

"Lie down!" he ordered. Woozily, she obeyed, scraping her elbow as she clumsily fell to her side.

Oh god, I am going to be sick, she thought, lying on the ground. Her skin felt cold and clammy as her stomach did sickening somersaults.

Dimly, she could sense Paul going down on his knees right beside her. She could hear a stream of curses exiting his mouth.

Weakly, she moaned, sweat trickling down her forehead. It felt as if her ankle was on_ fire!_

"Dawn!" She could faintly hear Nova's distressed cries.

She could hear panic ensuing, but at that moment she did not care a bit. Her vision was blurred, so she could not see, her ankle felt unbearably hot while everything else felt cold and clammy, and to top it all off, she felt close to vomiting.

"Everybody calm down and shut up! You are not helping the situation!" Paul yelled, clearly frustrated.

"Her leg isn't elevated, so that's good," she heard Max comment from behind Paul. "If her foot was elevated, the poision – if she _was_ poisoned – would spread faster to her heart."

"I know that," Paul responded cuttingly. "Anything else you would like to offer that could actually be useful right now?"

"Touché," Max muttered. "Well, she has nothing constricting her ankle, so that's good, but we should keep her as still as possible. We also can't give her anything to eat or drink because it might speed up the absorption of venom. But we probably shouldn't have her out here, in case any other arboks or poisonous pokémon decide to come along and attack…"

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" he demanded. Dawn's eyes were slipping closed.

"Well… um… I don't know! Aren't you supposed to know this stuff?" he asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be May's genius younger brother?" he shot back, annoyed. "Whatever, I'll just have to carry her back. You're the oldest, so I'm leaving you in charge of instructing the other kids."

"What?!" Max exclaimed.

"Just tell them to follow me," he told him. "And make sure they don't wander off or anything, got it?"

Max gulped, but nodded, nervously adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Dawn could only hear distant-sounding voices as Max and Paul exchanged words. She felt woozy and all she could see was red. She felt as if she was half-asleep, and for a moment it felt as if she was flying before her head hit something that was both soft and hard.

She didn't know what was happening, and at that time she didn't really care. She was confused, woozy, and disoriented as a numbing pain consumed her right leg from the ankle up to her knee.

Dawn's eyes slipped close as she was carried away.

* * *

Right before all the kids gathered for their second day of activities, May found Drew in the Arts and Crafts cabin, studying the paintings on the violet wall. Drew turned as she entered and offered her a small smile before turning back to the paintings.

Quietly, she stood beside him as she too started to study the past works tacked up on the wall. A lot of the paintings were really good and creative, with only a few of them being messy and sloppy. May had no doubts that the sloppy ones had been done by the younger campers. She smiled as she saw a picture that had been finger-painted and remembered the reason why she had come searching for Drew in the first place.

"Since we did your idea yesterday and did pottery, I was hoping today we could do my idea and paint," she told him quietly. She turned slightly toward him, quietly awaiting his response.

"Painting, hm?" Drew said, raising an eyebrow. "Sure, why not. I'm a prodigy when it comes to painting," he declared, now smirking as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

May frowned, trying to ignore a bubble of jealousy boiling up inside of her. "Oh, well, that's cool. I'm sure you are good at painting," she told him, forcing a strained smile. Just like you're sooo good at everything else, while I'm so terrible at everything, she added quietly.

"No. I'm not a _good_ painter," he corrected. "I'm an _amazing_ painter. My paintings happen to blow minds, May."

Your ego is going to blow my mind, she thought, biting back the words.

"I'm sure you are, Drew," she responded, walking pass him to wait outside for the kids to gather for today's activity.

Drew frowned, wondering what was up with her and her half-hearted responses. He sighed inwardly, bummed.

A few minutes later he joined the brunette outside, but not before taking out the paint and other necessities that would be needed for today's activity. He forced a charming smile as the kids started to gather, including about three pre-teen girls, one pre-teen boy, and four smaller kids. The preteen girls' cheeks turned a reddish-pink as they saw him, and they smiled back at him, their eyes dilating. He gave a small wave, and the girls briefly exchanged glances before collapsing into girlish giggles.

Beside him, May huffed, and glancing at her, Drew saw her cheeks were also red but not for the same reasons as the other girls.

"Welcome, as you already know I'm Drew," he greeted, smiling easily.

"And I'm May," the brunette said from beside him, her smile more uneasy.

"And this is the Arts and Crafts activity, and this is the cabin we'll be doing all—or most—of our activities in," he announced, gesturing besides him.

He turned around and entered the cabin, May and everyone else following closely behind him. He smirked as he heard the gasps of amazement from the younger children and the other first-year campers who had never seen the inside of the cabin before.

Once all the chatter died down, he spoke again, this time turning to May. "May, would you like to do the honors, since today's activity was your idea?"

May flushed, and she smiled nervously as she turned to the eight pairs of eyes focusing in on her. Her face reddened even more, unnerved by the intensity of their stares.

I like it better when I'm on stage, doing an appeal or battling, she thought. At least can't see them when I'm on stage since the lights are so blinding…

"Um, hello," she said, smiling. "Today we will be finger-painting, so, um—"

Drew stopped her then, shocked. "Wait, finger-painting? May, we're just painting," he exclaimed in a hushed whisper. May raised an eyebrow and then frowned, folding her arms under her chest.

"Um, no. We're _finger-painting_," she responded.

"Um, no. You said you just wanted to paint, _not finger-paint_."

"Well, excuse me for not being specific enough for you! Okay, I may have said I wanted to paint, but when I said that I had finger-painting in mind, so that's what we're going to do!"

"May, finger-painting is childish," he told her, his eyes flashing in annoyance. "Who finger-paints nowadays?"

"Um, let's see… Oh, I know, little kids!" she shot back, gesturing to the four smaller kids in the room.

"Finger-painting sounds like fun!" A young girl around the age of seven with twin-braids and bright eyes exclaimed.

"I wanna fingerprint!" Another boy, around six, exclaimed.

Drew rolled his eyes, his back to the kids, before placing a charming smile on his face once again and turning back to the small crowd. "Alrighty then! It looks like we'll be finger-painting! Whoo!" he said, with obviously false enthusiasm. "May will teach you how to finger-paint, you know, if you don't know how to already. Meanwhile I'll be over here, actually painting _meaningful_ stuff."

May seethed as she turned away from Drew, her hands fisted at her side. "Alright!" she said through clenched teeth, a very false smile painting her features. "Everyone over here, and we'll start painting!"

"Actually, I would like to paint like Drew," a girl with reddish-brown hair and cinnamon-colored eyes announced. She smiled as she followed Drew to his table at the far end of the room. "I would prefer not to finger-paint. It's really messy and can be quite a pain…"

Drew smiled at her. "Sure, join the party then. I wouldn't mind the company."

"I'll join," a green-haired girl May recognized as Rosie Bluebell exclaimed. "I agree with Autumn. Finger-painting is messy. Besides, I would rather paint a nice portrait of my favorite pokémon. I think it would easier to paint that with brushes rather than my fingers."

"Well, then I guess whoever wants to paint with brushes can join me over here, and whoever wants to finger-paint can join May over there. So, who else wants to join?"

A low, barely audible growl escaped May's lips as she watched as the last preteen girl, a pretty ten year old with long and wavy turquoise hair and matching eyes, joined Drew at his table. Her eyes narrowed as the ten year old boy also joined Drew's group.

What flirts! She thought resentfully. They are only preteens! He is _sixteen. _Gahhh! He's too old for them!

May turned to her own mini-group which consisted of two seven year-olds, a five year old girl (thank God neither her nor the seven year old had hormones yet), and a six year old boy. They crowded eagerly around her table, their eyes bright with excitement and their smiles huge.

May felt her anger slowly die down at their enthusiasm. She smiled kindly at them, warmth starting to bubble up inside of her at the sight of their eager, childish smiles.

Just then, May happened to look out the window. She could see Daisy's blonde head bobbing up and down as she ran. Curiously, May watched as Daisy ran into their cabin, followed by Tracy and then finally Brock who was carrying a first-aid kit.

May was alarmed.

Why was everybody going into their cabin? And why did Brock have a first aid kit?

A sudden chill consumed her. Was somebody hurt?

Without thinking, May fled from the cabin, her heart pounding in her chest. She could hear Drew's angry voice behind her.

"May, what are you doing?" he shouted from the doorway. May could only guess he was scowling by the tone of his voice, but she didn't care.

She barged into her cabin, startling Paul who had been leaning right next to the door frame. Naturally, her eyes flashed to Dawn and her pale, sallow face that was drenched in sweat and was twisted in agony as Brock dabbed something on her ankle.

"Dawn!" May shrieked, instantly worried for her best friend.

She was about to rush to her friend's side when she saw all the blood smeared across Dawn's ankle, Brock's hand, and the sheets. She sniffed and realized she could even smell the coppery scent of blood from where she was standing.

"O-oh…" May's face paled as she was hit by dizziness. She swooned.

She probably would have hit the floor, but Paul managed to catch her before she did, cursing as he did. Just then Drew came in and saw May in Paul's arms.

"What the—"

"She fainted," Paul explained simply.

Just then May came back into consciousness and freaked. She grabbed the front of Paul's sweatshirt, nearly ripping it off his shoulders as she did, and then grabbed Drew's as she started to fall again.

It reeked of blood.

"May!" Dawn called weakly from her bed, having suddenly noticed the brunette.

Managing to stand again without falling, May released her grip on their shirts and raced to Dawn's side.

"Dawn! What happened? Oh my gosh! You're bleeding all over the place! What happened?"

"No need to worry," the blunette whispered, forcing a strained smile. "I just… just… I…" Dawn swallowed, suddenly feeling light-headed and short of breath. "…got bit b-by… by a… an arr…ba…" She blinked, black blotches appearing in her eyesight before she closed her eyes and blacked out.

"D-Dawn?" May asked, a wave of panic washing over her.

"Don't worry, she's fine," Brock said quietly from his spot on the end of the bed. He was still attending her ankle. "She just blacked out. Apparently she's been doing that for a while."

"A while?" May sputtered, shocked. "When did she get bit?"

"It was about an hour ago." It was Paul who answered her question, his voice quiet, almost detached.

May turned towards him, then back to Brock.

"Will she be okay?" she asked, her voice soft. "She got bit an arbok? That is what she said right? She didn't get poisoned, did she? Is that why she's bleeding a lot?"

Oh dear God, let her be okay, she prayed, tears suddenly blurring her eyes. She started to shake as the tears slipped from her eyes.

"I don't think she got poisoned… She's unusually pale, but that's more likely from all the blood loss. Apparently the arbok jerked when it ripped it's fangs out of her ankle, and unfortunately it ripped a vein while doing so. Asides from her paleness though, she doesn't appear to have any other symptoms of poisoning… Unfortunately, there's not much I can do for her except spray some pokémon antidote on her ankle and pray it is also effective for humans or that she wasn't poisoned, the latter being more preferable. The bleeding should stop soon, so she should be fine. She will have to be on bed rest for at _least_ three days though. After all, we don't want her further hurting her ankle or risking an infection from the bite."

May nodded slowly, still trying to take all this information in. She looked up as she felt the pressure of a hand on her shoulder. It was Drew.

"All you alright, May?" he asked quietly. She nodded.

"I'm fine… I just hope Dawn will be too…" she said quietly, using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears.

"Dawn is a strong girl. She'll be fine, I'm sure. We just have to have faith in her," Drew reassured her. May looked at him, and he smiled. The brunette looked away, her heart starting to flutter in a familiar way.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're really pale, May," he told her, his voice quiet. "And what was with you fainting?"

May gave a tiny shrug. "I just don't like the smell of blood," she responded, cringing as she got another whiff of the odor. Taking in deep, shaky breaths, she stood up.

"I need some fresh air…" she murmured, and grabbed the sleeve of Drew's shirt to steady herself as another wave of dizziness and nausea washed over her.

Drew walked beside her as she exited the cabin, her hands still clenching his sleeve.

* * *

Misty was silent most of the time as the day wore on and the golden sun began to gradually sink lower and lower into the horizon. The kids were cheering and screaming, enjoying both their time in the water and their time on land. The six kids in the water were shouting dares at each other and splashing each other playing with water. The other two—a little girl around the age of five and her sister who was two years her senior—were in front of the lake, building a sand castle together.

Misty was thinking about Daisy, remembering how scared she had been when she had seen Daisy lying on the ground. She had believed for just a moment that her sister was dead—_dead_. Misty realized how ridiculous it was to have thought that now, but still, the very memory made a chill go down her back.

"Miss?"

Misty briefly looked down to see the five year old who had been building a castle with her sister staring up at her. She glanced at Ash, who gave her a thumb up, signaling he would watch the kids while she attended to the little girl.

"Yes?" Misty asked, smiling at her. The little girl smiled back and Misty noticed that some of her teeth were missing.

The girl was sandy-haired and she had the clearest blue eyes Misty had ever seen. Her eyes were like glass with a blue tint to it. Freckles also dotted the girl's nose, and looking at her, Misty couldn't help but forget her previous worries. She was simply the most adorable girls she had ever seen!

"I noticed you over here and I wanted to say I really like your bathing suit!"

Misty glanced down at herself. She was wearing the red lifeguard sweatshirt Daisy had given them on the first day of camp, and underneath that, a bright red one-piece.

"Oh, this old thing? Well, thank you, that's very nice of you. Sandy," Misty responded, her smile growing. She was also the most charming little girl Misty had ever met!

"You're welcome!" The little girl chirped cheerfully.

"I like your bathing suit, too. It's very cute. The bright pink goes good with your eyes, and the psyduck is adorable. Is psyduck your favorite pokémon?"

"It is!" Sandy exclaimed, her eyes becoming bright. "I love psyducks! They're cute and funny and I looove them! My older sister, Candice, has one! Do you have a psyduck?"

"Yeah, it's a really great pokémon, even if it can be a pain in the butt sometimes," she told her, laughing.

"You have a very pretty laugh, too, Miss."

"Thank you."

Just then Mandy came up behind Sandy and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Sandy, let's go swim! You wanna go swim, Sandy?"

"Yes, please!" The little girl squealed and screamed like a wild pokémon as she pulled free from her older sister and ran towards the lake.

"Wait, Sandy! Hold on!" Mandy called, running after her.

Misty was still smiling as she watched the young girl and her sister jump into the water.

"She's a cute little girl, huh?" That was Ash's voice.

Misty nodded, her eyes now scanning the surface of the lake for any disturbances. She counted eight heads in the water. "She's very nice. She's the type of little girl I would want for a sister—or a daughter."

"Daughter, eh?" Ash said, grinning although she could not see it. "Geez, Misty, you're only sixteen, and you're already thinking about kids?"

Misty blushed, her cheeks going a bright shade of red. "Shut up, Ash! I-I didn't mean now. I mean, I don't even have a boyfriend right now, and-and even if I did I wouldn't be doing _that stuff_ anyway! I meant I wouldn't mind if I had a daughter like her—you know, _in the future_."

"How soon in the future?" he questioned.

Misty looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

This time Ash turned bright crimson as he waved his hands defensively in front of him. "I was just curious! I don't mean—I don't want to—I'm not trying to—_you know what I mean!_"

Misty smiled as she turned back to the ocean, a small giggle escaping her lips. "Chillax, Ash. Gosh. Anyway I was thinking maybe five, ten years from now? Honestly, I don't know. I want to be married though before I have any kids."

"Me too," Ash said.

Misty nodded, a silence filling the air. Misty hesitated, then quietly, she said, "Hey…Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… do you believe… well, you know… in, um…"

Ash raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the carrot top. "True love? Soul mates?" He was surprised by the blush that enveloped Misty's face then.

"Y-yeah."

Ash was thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I suppose it's not impossible… Jessie and James are in love, I think. At least, they looked in love when they got married last June. You remember that, don't you?"

Misty nodded, a small smile curving her lips. "Of course. Their wedding was very beautiful. They both looked so happy and in love… I'm glad the two of them and Meowth decided to turn a new leaf."

"Even if they are both dirt poor and living in a dumpy apartment." Ash snorted at this, and Misty smacked his arm. "Hey!" he whined, rubbing his shoulder.

"Don't be such a jerk, okay, they are past-criminals, so of course it's difficult for them to find a good job that can pay them well enough so they can afford a better apartment."

"Well nobody told them to be criminals," he muttered, folding his arms over his chest. He scanned the horizon and he frowned. Were there eight kids in the lake or only seven? He attempted to count the heads but everyone was moving around so much it was difficult to tell if had counted everyone or if someone was missing.

Ash glanced at Misty, about to ask her if anything looked wrong to her, and saw the distant and almost sad look in her eyes as she stared the lapping blue water.

"Mist?" Ash asked, his voice soft.

"Hm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Of course," she responded flatly. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Doesn't sound like it. Are you thinking about Daisy again?" Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her flinch.

She hated how he could read her so well.

She was about to reassured him once more that she was fine, that she was just daydreaming about nothing important in general, when suddenly she noticed something was amiss.

She saw Mandy… but where was Sandy?

Ash glanced at Misty again, and seeing the puzzled and somewhat startled look on Misty's face, he suddenly remembered what he had been about to ask her before he got distracted.

"Ash, do you see Sandy in the wa—"

"Help!" A distant call interrupted her. "Help! Misty, Ash! My sister—"

At that moment Misty jumped off her high-chair, her eyes frantic. "Ash, get Daisy! Quick! I'll get Sandy!" Quickly she tore off her lifeguard sweat jacket, tossing it carelessly on the sandy floor.

Ash nodded, feeling dazed as he jumped off his own high-chair and ran back towards the cabin, back to inform Daisy of the emergency taking place.

Misty suddenly became aware of the large gray clouds hovering over her and the bright gray-blue lake as she jumped into the freezing water. She swam and swam and swam, her arms feeling limp and dead as she forced them to work, as she forced them to swim and swim and swim. When she was far enough into the lake she took a huge gulp of air and then dived.

When Misty opened her eyes the water was gray. Dark gray. A dark grayish-blue, an ominous blue. The water surrounded her, threatening her in its eerie, ominous way.

Misty spun, her hair feeling heavy, and her limbs feeling numb.

And then she saw her.

She saw Sandy, her eyes closed, as she floated downward, towards the bottom of the lake. Misty nearly gasped in shock as she saw the young girl who looked so pale and ghostly. Her hair looked midnight blue with the dark water surrounding her, and for a moment Misty was reminded of Dawn and her dark blue hair.

Determinedly, Misty swam towards her, ignoring the heaviness in her limbs.

She remembered the compliment Sandy had given her just minutes before.

"_I really like your bathing suit!"_

She reached the girl and grabbed her. Misty felt a dreadful chill as she saw the girl's pale face, and for a brief moment, she was reminded of Daisy and the look she had on her face when she had been on the floor, unconscious.

"_You have a very pretty laugh, too, miss!"_

Misty pulled her along, determination strengthening her as she swam fiercely for shore, the little girl in tow.

Silently, all the while, Misty was praying. She was praying Sandy, the charming little girl who had given her all those compliments, would live. She prayed Sandy would be all right because she was such a sweet, sweet little girl and she didn't deserve to die at such a young age. She was five, for goodness sake, _five!_ She had barely had the chance to live!

And so Misty prayed, despair weighing down her heart as she broke the surface of the lake and then pulled the little girl a good thirty feet away from the shore.

Thankfully all seven kids were out of the lake now and were silently watching Misty as she performed her job. They watched with pale faces and frightened eyes.

Quickly, Misty laid the girl on her side and opened her mouth. Water fell from Sandy's mouth, and when all the water was gone, Misty laid her on her back and placed her ear against her heart.

She longed to hear the _thump-thump-thump_ of her heart, or some other signal that the girl was still alive and breathing, but there was none.

The sky darkened as the ominous clouds from before covered the sun. A cold breeze tugged at Misty's damp hair, but she ignored it.

Desperately, Misty placed two of her fingers against a vein on the girl's waist, and when she felt no pulse she was forced to start CPR.

Misty noted the girl's age and size and then began pumping away at the little girl's chest. She muttered numbers under her breath, waiting until she had performed the appropriate amount of compressions before stopping and using one hand to tilt the girl's head up, and then using the other to pinch the little girl's nose shut as she performed the rescue breathing.

This cycle continued, feeling endless to Misty who was now feeling close to tears as sheer determination drove her on.

Chest compressions, rescue breathing. Chest compressions, rescue breathing. Chest compressions, rescue—where the hell was Ash?! Oh why oh why did the lake have to be so far from the rest of the camp?! Chest compressions, rescue breathing. Chest compressions, rescue breathing.

Wait.

What was this?

There was a small sound, a squeak and then a cough. Misty's eyes gleamed and relief flooded Misty as she realized the sound was coming from Sandy. The girl made another squeaking sound followed by more coughs as she spat water from her mouth.

"Easy, there, easy…" Misty murmured, helping the young girl sit upright. The girl leaned drowsily against her as she coughed up more and more water. Sobs began to escape the girl's throat as she clenched her throat.

"Oh thank god!" Mandy whispered, dropping to her knees as tears poured endlessly from blue eyes identical to Sandy's. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…"

"Are you alright?" Misty asked, her voice soft. "Are you feeling faint? Are you hurt any other place?"

Sandy shook her head fiercely, tears still streaming down her pale, pale face.

"Misty! Is she like okay? Like, how is she?"

Ash had finally arrived with her sister.

"Oh dear! You poor thing," Daisy coaxed, wrapping a towel she had bought over the little girl's shoulders. "Come, let's get you dry off and then we'll call your parents and like see what they want to do… oh, I won't hurt you, I promise. Like, I have a lollipop in my office that has your name all over it!"

That last sentence got her up as she shakily took Daisy's hand. "Can you walk, dear?" The girl nodded, her eyes wide and her mouth trembling.

Misty watched as Daisy led the girl away, her motherly chattering continuing as she told Sandy about how she would make her some hot chocolate with whip cream and cinnamon and sprinkles with a cherry to top it all off. Sighing, Misty turned back to the rest of the campers. "Follow Daisy and go back to your cabins! The lake is officially closed for the rest of the day."

The kids were murmuring quietly amongst each other as they followed Daisy and Sandy back to camp. Mandy, however, was as quiet as a corpse. She didn't say a single word as she followed them. Misty placed a hand over her heart, able to sympathize for the eight-year old who had almost lost her sister.

The carrot-top turned to Ash then who was wearing a guilty expression.

"Sorry for taking so long, Mist! It's just—well, I couldn't find Daisy and then when I did she was in your cabin with Dawn… and…" He frowned and sighed as he placed a hand over her shoulder.

"Daisy was in my cabin? With Dawn? But why? It's only four o'clock, her and Paul should still be out in the mountain, hiking… shouldn't they?"

Ash shook his head and Misty, already weighed down with exhaustion from the day's experiences, suddenly felt weighed down with dread.

"Ash?" she asked. "Did something happen?"

"Well, yeah… I don't know what though. I didn't have time to ask questions since, you know, Sandy, but when I found Daisy…" He trailed off, his eyes darkening.

"But what Ash?" she questioned. She felt goosebumps rise on her arms as a cold breeze passed through. She shivered, and Ash bent down to pick up her sweat jacket.

"Here," he said quietly, handing her the jacket. "When I got to the cabin, I saw Dawn and well, she was on her bed I guess and she had her foot wrapped up and she was like this spooky shade—like a gray-ish white, you know? And then there was blood all over the place, and she had her eyes closed…"

"She's not dead, is she?!" Misty exclaimed, her eyes widening as her heart pounded in her chest. Misty clasped Ash's arm to steady herself as a dreadful wave of panic washed over her.

"No, no. Well, I don't think she is. I don't think she could have been in the room if she was dead. And Brock was there, too, and—"

"Forget that, come on, we have to go see her! We have to make sure she's alright!" Misty yelled, already racing pass him.

"Wait! Hold on! Wait up!" Ash yelled, dashing after the ginger-haired tomboy.

**/x/x/x/**

Misty felt ready to collapse in exhaustion and despair from the day's events when she saw Dawn lying on her bed, looking as pale as a ghost. The blunette smiled at the sight of her friend, and Misty couldn't help but notice how Dawn was still hauntingly beautiful despite her unfortunate condition.

"Misty!" she greeted, her eyes gaining a sparkle. Misty looked behind her and realized Ash hadn't followed her in.

"Hey," she murmured, forcing a strained smile for her friend. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," she admitted with a carefree shrug. 'But I'll live, so need to worry. I'll be out of bed and back on my feet soon enough!"

"Your feet…" Misty murmured as she glanced at the blunette's feet and noticed all the blood-stained gauze that had been tightly wrapped around her right ankle. "Dawn, what happened?"

She blinked. "You don't know? Huh, I guess Brock and Daisy didn't tell you… I was hiking in the mountain, you know, with Paul and kids, when I kind of wandered off the path and got bit by an arbok."

"An arbok?!" Misty exclaimed, her eyes widening. "You're lucky you're not dead! You didn't get poison, did you?!"

Dawn shrugged, nonchalant. "Maybe. I dunno. I don't feel as if I was poisoned though, and Brock sprayed some pokémon antidote on me, so even if I was poisoned, I'm probably fine now." Dawn frowned. "Come on, don't look so worried, Misty. I'm fine, really! This is just a minor setback, I promise. I'll be up and driving all you crazy soon enough!"

Finally, Misty cracked a real smile.

"You always were the optimistic one. Are you hungry?"

"Starving!" Dawn declared, pushing herself up on her arms so she could sit up. "Ouch!" She cringed and grabbed for her ankle.

"You okay?" Misty questioned, immediately concerned. Dawn forced a reassuring smile.

"Perfect. My ankle is just a little sore still from the bite… no need to worry. Really." She cringed again as she moved and a burning pain shot through her before ebbing away.

"I'll give you some food from the cafeteria. What do you want?"

"You don't have to…"

"But I want to. What do you want?" Misty asked again, determined to bring Dawn food.

"Well… um…" She was craving something spicy, hot. "Something, anything spicy. Maybe ramen?"

Misty nodded. "I'll see if I can find a good, spicy one in the kitchen."

**/x/x/x/**

As soon as Misty exited to find her some spicy ramen, Ash entered, grinning sheepishly.

"Hey Dawn… I heard from Misty you got bit by an arbok. So what did you do this time to bring on its wrath?"

The blunette smiled and rolled her eyes. "I didn't do anything!" she shot back, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Oh I see, you stuck your tongue out at it. It's not a very nice thing to do," Ash told her, grinning. His grin vanished as he frowned at Dawn and the bloody gauze around her ankle. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I have had better days," she responded honestly.

Ash took a seat on the edge of the bed, careful not to bump his head on the bed above, and a good foot and a half away from her ankle.

"So you got bit in the mountain? Wow. How did you even get down here? The mountain is like an hour away!" he commented.

"Oh. Um…" She scrunched her eyebrows together as blurry images danced in the corner of her mind, memories from just earlier that day. "Um… someone carried me, I think… Paul."

"Paul?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Paul carried me all the way from the mountain to here."

Dawn blinked, shocked as she voiced the revelation out loud. Paul, cold, mean, harsh Paul carried _her_ a good five miles to her cabin.

Damn.

What crazy world was she living in now?

Ash grinned at her. "I knew Paul could be chivalrous!"

Chivalrous? Paul? Dawn felt her lips curve upwards into a smile as she imagined Paul opening car doors for young ladies. She even imagined him laying his jacket down over her puddle just so some girl wouldn't get her shoes wet. She was starting to feel drowsy again.

"Dawn?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him, smiling. She was so grateful to have such a nice and caring guy friend like Ash. "I'm just sleepy still…"

"Ah. I understand. I'll leave now, so you can get your rest. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Dawn nodded, mumbling something under her breath before closing her eyes and giving in to sweet, sweet slumber…

Dawn was woken up about fifteen minutes later by the sound of Misty opening and closing the door. She could hear the soft thuds of Misty's footsteps as she placed a bowl of something steamy and delicious smelling on top of the bed stand. Dawn was grateful the carrot top hadn't stopped to wake her up. She quickly fell back to sleep, darkness surrounding her.

It was probably around six and she had probably been asleep for around two hours when she was startled awake by the sound of the door being slammed against the wall.

"DAWN!"

Oh thank god Kenny wasn't calling her by that silly nickname or else she may have just gotten up and punched him.

"What…?" she grumbled, stretching her long arms over her head.

"OH THANK GOD! You're alive! You're okay! What the hell happened, DeeDee?!" Dawn scowled as he reverted back to her nickname. "I come back from a long hike in the forest only to hear by Ash you were bitten by an arbok and resting in bed!"

"Yeah… I was in bed… _resting_," she grumbled. She sighed and sat up.

Just then Zoey entered the cabin, looking a lot less flustered than Kenny. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of the blunette, pale faced and wearing wrinkle clothes and gauze that badly needed to be replaced.

"Damn, that arbok took a bite out of you," the tomboy commented casually.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but was relieved that Zoey wasn't going to bombard her with a million questions concerning her health and the bite and blah blah blah. It was nice to get a change of scenario once in a while.

She had already had all the kids from hers, Misty's, Lily and Violet's, and May's group visit her and bombard her with gruesome details about poisonous bites and arboks. Nonetheless, they had all been really worried about her and some had even given her presents—usually a flower or a cool pebble they found, but Dawn found it sweet nonetheless.

Dawn could only guess Zoey and Kenny's group would visit her once the gossip reached their tiny, curious ears.

"Your bite, is it infected? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Why are you so pa—"

"Kenny! _Breathe_," Zoey instructed, rolling her eyes.

Kenny did. He took in large gulp of airs, his dark eyes wide and worried.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little sore and really tired, but other than that, I'm fine Kenny. I wasn't poisoned or anything." At least, I hope I wasn't, she added silently.

"Do you need anything? Anything at all?" he questioned. "A pillow, food, a drink?"

Dawn shook her head, a small smile touching her lips. "I'm fine Kenny. Like I said, I'm just tired…"

"We'll go then so you can rest," Zoey said. "Come on, Kenny, let's go." Kenny followed reluctantly behind her, but managed to spare Dawn one last mournful glance before taking his exit.

Not even fifteen minutes had passed before Dawn was visited by eight more campers, the eight campers who had been in Zoey's and Kenny's group that day. They talked eagerly and animatedly, bombarding her with questions and telling her gruesome stories they had heard about poisonous bites – all stories she had already heard from the other kids.

They talked to her animatedly for about twenty minutes before they were shooed off by Drew.

"Go bug someone else, someone who was not just bitten by an arbok. Ah, like Ash. Go bug Ash," Drew told them. He rolled his eyes as the kids left, some muttering under their breath, others – mostly girls – making googly eyes at him as they left.

"Kids," he said, rolling his eyes. He smiled charmingly at her and Dawn felt a small blush creep across her cheeks as she smiled back. "What can you do?"

"Kick them out and tell them to go bug Ash?" she suggested, grinning.

"Ah, yes. Brilliant! Where did you get such an excellent idea?" he asked, chuckling.

"Certainly not from you."

It was May who said that as she entered. "Hey, Dawn. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, much better!" she responded cheerfully. "How about you? Still feeling hemophobic?"

May blinked. "Hemophobic?"

"Hemophobic, a person who has an irrational fear of blood," Drew chimed in. May scowled.

"I know what it means!" she muttered, glaring at Drew. The chartreuse-haired teen just shrugged through, a smirk gracing his lips. Dawn smiled knowingly at May.

"Anyway… um, why did I come here again? Oh yeah! I made you a present, Dawn!" the brunette exclaimed, kneeling by her bedside. "It's not much and it's not that good, but I just wanted to make you a present."

Dawn smiled as May handed her a chibi drawing of herself, an adorable girl with the big head, big blue eyes, long blue hair, and small body. Above the picture of her chibi-self her name was written in pink and then below her chibi-self May had signed her own name.

"It's adorable! Thank you, May," she said, leaning forward to hug her friend. "I love the way you drew my-slash-her eyes. They're very pretty."

May blushed, clearly pleased with herself. "Thank you. It's the least I could do. Anyway, I really hope you feel better soon Dawn."

"I'm sure I will," she responded back, as optimistic as always.

"So, you're not like… feeling sick or anything? You're so pale," the brunette remarked, frowning.

"Of course she's going to look a bit pale, May," Drew retorted from beside her. "She just lost a good portion of blood from some lousy arbok." Childishly, May stuck her tongue out at him.

"So immature," Drew sighed, rolling his eyes. He smiled at Dawn again. "Maybe I should order May out too so she can go bug, Ash." The blunette giggled at this, her cheeks turning a very light pink.

May's eyes flashed and Dawn was shocked by the amount of hurt she saw visible in the brunette's eyes. Dawn immediately felt bad for giggling at Drew's little joke.

"At least I'm not as pig-headed as you," she responded coldly to Drew, her voice tight as she struggled to keep her voice steady. "I hope you feel better, Dawn," she said one last time, her voice barely above a whisper, before she stamped out of the room with her fists balled at her side.

Drew stared after her, looking both dismayed and angry.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, Dawn," he said, his voice sounding odd. "I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks…" she muttered, puzzled by their behavior.

Briefly she wondered if Drew liked May and if that was the reason he took great pleasure in teasing her whenever the opportunity arose.

She thought about it for about ten minutes before she sighed, her head starting to pound from all the thinking she was doing concerning May and Drew and the possibility of a relationship forming between the two.

Maybe I should ask Drew about his feelings for her someday… she thought.

"But how to ask him so he won't suspect May's feelings for him?" she wondered aloud.

Her only response was silence.

Dawn frowned, suddenly aware of the quietness and the fact that she was the only living soul in that room. She glanced around nervously, goosebumps suddenly rising on her flesh.

It was cold… so cold…

Suddenly she wished someone, anyone, was there with her.

But everyone had already visited her—Ash, Misty, May, Drew, Zoey, Kenny, all the kids—everyone.

Well, everyone except one person.

Paul.

Dawn frowned at this realization.

Everyone but my own partner has visited me to see how I'm doing and to make sure I'm okay, she thought.

Inevitably, she felt hurt. However, even she was surprised by how deeply hurt she felt knowing Paul didn't even like her or care for her enough to drop by and see how she was doing.

Tears filled her eyes.

Why am I so hurt by this? She wondered, stubbornly blinking back the tears. After all, I should have expected this. He doesn't like me. He doesn't give a damn about me. Didn't he make that clear enough today? If he could, he wouldn't even be here, nonetheless have _me_ as his counseling buddy.

These thoughts did nothing to soothe her mind and she found herself blubbering as tears streaked her face and horrible sounding sobs escaped her throat along with the occasional hiccup. Her ankle started to throb again and pain started to shoot up and down her leg.

She knew she was being silly, and she hated it, crying over something as silly as Paul not visiting her, but she couldn't help it. It was as if a terrible and painful sadness had filled her heart. It just _hurt_, knowing Paul didn't give a damn about her.

After a while, her sobs died down and she gradually fell back asleep, worn by her crying and her face still wet with tears.

* * *

Paul soundlessly opened the door to the girl's cabin and walked in, closing the door slowly behind him. He wondered if Dawn was awake or if she was sleeping again, and if that was the reason for the cabin being so silent when he walked in.

Slowly, he walked over to her bed and saw that she was asleep again. He was surprised when he saw her face. It was still red and was stained with fresh tears.

Was her ankle hurting her again? Was that the reason she had been crying?

He studied her face for a bit longer.

Despite her red, tear-stained face, she looked peaceful as she slept, as if she was in a good dream. Paul's face softened. She looked as if she was ten again, her face appearing much younger than she actually was.

He frowned, recalling how only minutes before she was bit by the arbok they had been arguing. His eyebrows furrowed as a scowl repainted his features and he ran a hand through his plum-colored bangs.

He knew he shouldn't have been so rude to her, but she had just been so stubborn, so pressing. She just wouldn't drop the damn subject, and he had not been about to willingly admit to her or anybody else his reason for coming to this damned camp. _It was his business and his business only!_

But still, he couldn't help but feel a slight sliver of guilt as he remembered how harsh he had been to her.

Sighing, he leaned his back against the back of the bunk bed Dawn slept on and waited for her to wake up.

* * *

One moment it felt as if her body was on fire, the next it felt as if she had walked out into a blizzard. Then, it was as if she was on fire again, and the cycle of hot, cold, hot, cold, repeated for what felt like an eternity.

Tears streaked down her eyes, and the most horrible, awful, heartbreaking sobs continued to rack her body as it switched from hot to cold, cold to hot.

She was screaming something, but it was as if there was something plugging her ears, leaving her to only hear a drowned-out version of what she was yelling.

Her vision was red and blurred from tears.

Dawn didn't understand at all what was happening. She didn't know why she was screaming. She didn't know why her body was raging hot one moment and then freezing cold the next. She didn't know why she was crying, she didn't know why her heart felt as if someone had stabbed a knife through it, or why her vision was red. Were her eyes bleeding?

Suddenly she dropped to her knees and looked up, and as she looked up, she saw the moon.

It was full and luminous, an eerie glow encasing it. But it wasn't that beautiful pearl white like it should have been; it was a hideous crimson-color that reminded Dawn of dried blood.

Suddenly she was aware of the sound of her own heartbeat and the slow _thump… thump… thump… _sound it was making. Her long hair felt heavy with water or something similar, and she could suddenly detect the scent of something strong and coppery wafting around her, on her.

_Thump… thump… thump…_

The remorse that had filled her only seconds earlier faded, giving away to something much more powerful. Anger pierced through her, consuming her like a fatal disease, wild and vicious, dangerous and uncontainable.

No…

What she was feeling was stronger than anger. What she felt was hatred.

_Thump… thump… thump._

A shadow fell over the moon.

Pain seared through her, but even through all her pain, she held onto her hatred and its power, even as her body bled scarlet from the lacerations on her body and she screamed in agony.

She vowed she would never forget the hatred she felt, and she vowed she would get her vengeance.

Dawn didn't even realize she was screaming, even as she exited the realm of dreams and entered that foggy state between asleep and awake. She wasn't even aware she was screaming even as someone shook her shoulders, making her feel as if she was on some rollercoaster ride-gone-awry.

"Dawn! Dawn! _DAWN!_"

Finally it registered in her mind that the buzzing she was hearing in her ears was the sound of her own screaming. With this new realization, she closed her mouth, and it was quiet again. As the screaming stopped, the shaking did too. Her breath was ragged and she was trembling as she fought the urge to continue her ear-deafening scream.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her eyes found Paul's.

Her eyes widened and—

"Don't you dare scream," he warned, narrowing his eyes as he took a few steps away from her.

Automatically she slapped her hands over her mouth as tears slipped down her already wet face. Dawn was shocked to find her cheeks were still wet. She remembered she was crying before she went to sleep, but surely they should have been dried by now. Had she been crying in her sleep?

She closed her eyes once more, squeezing them shut. Slowly, she opened them again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Paul was silent for a moment.

Dawn opened her mouth, ready to ask again why exactly he was here, when he abruptly interrupted her.

"What does it look like? I'm making sure you're not dead yet, or on the brink of death," he grumbled, looking both sheepish and annoyed as he scowled and ran a hand through his bangs.

Dawn frowned at him, confused. "Why would I be dead?"

He gestured toward the end of her bed and she followed his gaze to her swollen, bloody ankle and its bloody bandages. Dawn's eyes widened as she remembered the day's earlier events, and as if staring at it had ignited something in her ankle, it started to burn again.

As a silence filled the room, Paul found himself glancing out the window where darkness now took the place of the gray-blue sky and weak sunlight. He could also make out the scarlet outline of a new moon.

"So I take it you had a nightmare?" he asked, unable to stand the insufferable silence any longer.

"Huh?" She tore her tear-filled eyes away from her throbbing ankle to Paul.

"You were screaming," he said. "And crying. I take it you had a nightmare."

Dawn frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together. "I suppose…" she murmured. When he gave her a questioning look, she added, "I can't really remember the dream… or nightmare."

"So you have a nightmare that leaves you screaming and crying like Michael Myers is after you, and then you can't even remember what it is about?" he intoned. "Wow."

Dawn felt her face redden. "Well… um… yeah. I guess so."

Another silence enveloped them and Dawn felt her face redden even more as the minutes dragged on.

Dang, this is so embarrassing… she thought. Say something, Dawn! Speak! Gosh, why can't I just say something around him? I'm not like this around anyone else! Heck, I'm not this quiet around Drew, and I only met him like a week ago!

Nervously, she snuck a glance at Paul and saw he was leaning against May's and Misty's bunk, his hands in his pocket as he gazed out the window by her bed. She followed his gaze outside the window and saw the faint red outline of a circle in the otherwise dark night sky.

"Oh, shoot! Tonight was supposed to be the first night of the red moon!" She exclaimed, slapping her forehead. "Figures I would get hurt and be bedridden on a night like this!"

Angrily she glared at her ankle, as if it was its fault an arbok lunged out of nowhere and sunk its fang into it.

Paul just shrugged. "It's a new moon tonight so you can only see an outline of the red, so it's no big deal. Your ankle should be better by the next night of the red moon anyway."

"You really think so?" she asked, her eyes bright with excitement.

He shrugged again, looking sheepish. "Well, yeah. The next one is in ten days, and it shouldn't take ten days for your ankle to get better. It will just be swollen and sore for the first few days, but then it will just feel like a puncture wound."

"Really? Huh. How do you know all this?" she asked, her blue eyes wide in awe.

Again, he just shrugged.

"So… my foot won't like… fall off or anything?"

Paul turned his head to give her an are-you-effing-serious look, but at the sight of her worried blue eyes and trembling lips, he instead found himself sighing.

"No, it won't." Sighing again, he said, "I've been bitten by an arbok before and does it look as if my leg had fallen off?"

"Well, I've never seen you in shorts before, so for all I know you could be hiding a peg leg underneath those pants."

Unexpectedly, Paul found himself smiling at that comment. Quickly he looked away, letting his bangs fall in his face.

"But seriously? An arbok actually bit you? I mean, dang! That pokémon has some nerve! I would be afraid of getting kicked if I was a pokémon and bit you – or heck, anybody."

Paul raised an eyebrow, wondering if that last comment was kind of gibe towards how he used to treat his pokémon.

"But then again, I wouldn't bite anyone even if I was a pokémon. I mean, I wouldn't bite anyone as a human… well, unless they were my boyfriend… wait, no! Not even then, you know. Oh gosh, that sounded so perverted! I am not a pervert, honestly!" Dawn blushed and realized she was blabbering. "Um, just forget half that stuff I said. I'm just blabbering and stuff, you know. I think it's this bite. I think it's making me delusional or delirious or whatever you would call it… hahaha… ha. Again, forget everything I am saying. In fact, you can stop listening to me right now, and in fact, you should, since you know, I'm sounding like an idiot and everything…"

Paul raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure whether I should be annoyed or amused."

"Um, amused?" she suggested, smiling nervously and sweat dropping. "Ah ha… um, what were we talking about before I…?"

He shrugged.

"Oh yeah, you said you got bit by an arbok… was it painful?"

Paul snorted. "What do you think? Didn't you just get bit by one a few hours ago?"

She shrugged and flipped over so she was laying on her side as she used her arm as a cushion for her head. "Well, yeah, but it may have felt different to you."

"Well, my bite wasn't as nasty looking as yours," he admitted. But then again, when he got bit, it hadn't ripped open a vein.

"When did you get bit by it? How old were you?"

"Five years ago," he responded. "I was thirteen."

"Huh, really."

He nodded.

"Well… thank you… for visiting, I mean," she told him, smiling as her cheeks started to fill with warmth. "It means a lot."

"She says as if I am the only one who has visited her today, although really, the whole camp has," he muttered.

Dawn's cheeks turned even redder at this remark. "Yeah, well, still. I can be grateful, nonetheless. And not the whole camp visited me. Just a lot. You know, because they wanted to be nice or polite or whatever and make sure I'm alright… or you know, like you said, to make sure I'm not dead."

"You talk a lot," he commented. He was still staring out the window with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Um, habit," Nervous habit, she thought. One I just took up recently apparently, she thought, frowning

"I can tell."

Dawn started to fidget as she desperately searched her mind for something that would break the awkward silence that had formed between them.

"Well, I think I've overstayed my visit," he finally said, unfolding his arms as he walked towards the cabin door. He paused as his hand touched the brass knob. "Your friends should be here any minute now. Think you can survive until then?"

"I'm sure I will," she reassured him, forcing a smile. "Um, see you later…"

His only response was a grunt as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

Misty didn't look up as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder and louder or as a shadow fell over her.

"Hey Ash…"

"'Sup!" he greeted, plopping down beside her on the sandy white ground.

He looked over at the clear blue lake in front of him and the zillions of stars reflected in it, and then up at the night sky which was surprisingly cloudless asides from a few ominous looking clouds hovering in the far distance.

"Wow… it's beautiful out here when there are no clouds around," he murmured as he stared with awe at the infinite amount of stars twinkling back at him.

"Yeah…"

Ash glanced at Misty and frowned. "Hey, what's with you? You seem depressed."

"Nothing," she sighed, avoiding his gaze.

"Misty."

"Hm?"

At the feel of a sudden weight on her shoulder, she turned and her eyes connected with Ash's stern chocolate-colored ones.

"Misty, I think I've known you long enough now to know when you're upset. I'm not the same naïve boy you knew back when we were ten."

She smiled at this. "You sure about that, Ketchum?"

"Positive," he responded. "Now tell me, what's wrong? C'mon, you can tell me… and if you can't tell me, because it's like, um, girly problems and stuff, you can let me know and I can get someone you can talk to."

"Don't worry, it's not 'girly' problems," she responded. Then she paused, and added, "At least not in the way you're most likely thinking of."

"Then what is it? Is this about Dawn? Your sister? Sandy?"

"It's all that…" she whispered, and Ash was shocked to see tears begin to form in her eyes before she wiped them away. She turned toward Ash and smiled, although he could see tears beginning to form in her eyes again. "Don't worry about me Ash. I'm fine. It's just been a terrible, terrible day. That's all."

"I know what you mean," he replied, recalling the fear and despair that had clouded her eyes earlier that morning when she had discovered her unconscious sister. "But it'll get better, Misty. I promise. Not every day will be this bad."

She laughed then, and he smiled at the sound of it, feminine and chime-like. "I sure hope you're right, Ash."

* * *

**17,000+ words. Daaamn. Well, I hope Paul wasn't too OOC this chapter. :x Or any of the other characters for that matter… they are kind of different from the anime, but I did that purposely since they are older now, and well, people change in a course of seven years, especially when they are going from ten years old to seventeen years old (I know I did!), so yeeeaaah, just throwing that out there. **

**Before I end this author note, I have three questions you can answer if you want to:**

**1) Based on this chapter (and the others, or just your own thoughts or theories or whatever), who do you think will become a couple first? Second? Third? Last?**

**2) Any thoughts on Daisy?**

**3) Your thoughts on the beginning scene? Is it a flashback, a dream someone had, a future scene? Your predictions?**

**4) Your thoughts on Dawn's dream?**

**5) There's foreshadowing. There's some foreshadowing that I don't think is that obvious, and that isn't really all that important at the moment, but it will be towards the end of the story… Anyone wanna try to guess what the foreshadowing is? :D**

**Reviews would be appreciated! And thanks so very much for everyone who has already reviewed! :D**

**Next Chapter: The Footprint in the Mud**


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